Venture firms develop cold feet on crisis woes

Investments by venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) funds declined by 99 percent year-on-year in the first two months of this year, a report by the Beijing-based consulting firm Eternal Zenith Capital has revealed.

These funds invested a total of 1.15 billion yuan in 23 companies in the past two months. In the corresponding period last year, 81 companies received 160.84 billion yuan from VC and PE sources, the report showed.

However, strategic investment in Chinese companies bucked the trend. During the first two months of this year, 14 Chinese companies got 14.87 billion yuan in strategic investment, up 22 percent year-on-year, the report pointed out.