China syndrome: open and closed for business at the same time

For US dollar private equity PE and venture capital VC funds, the appetite for China deals has dwindled to the equivalent of a meagre repast of plain rice.

From the heady days of 2017, when deals peaked at more than $300 billion, capital raised by Greater China-based PE and VC funds fell to $36.8 billion in 2022, according to figures from Preqin.

This was significantly lower than the average of $148.9 billion between 2019 and 2021.

At a recent symposium on July 21 held by Fang Xinghai, vice-chair of the China Securities Regulatory Commission CSRC, was a testament to the complexity of...