China’s venture capital (VC) landscape experienced a 12.1% year-on-year (YoY) decline in deal volume during January-May 2024, with the announcement of 1,198 deals. Despite this, the disclosed funding value surged to $17.2 billion, marking a 16.3% YoY increase. This growth, driven by an uptick in high-value deals, positions China as a leading global market for VC funding, second only to the US, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

An analysis of GlobalData’s Deals Database revealed that a total of 1,363 VC deals were announced in China during January-May 2023 while the disclosed funding value of these deals stood at $14.8 billion.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Chinese startups raised the second highest amount of VC funding in the world during the first five months of 2024. Apart from being the top Asia-Pacific (APAC) market for VC funding activity, it is also a key global market and stood just next to the US in terms of both VC funding deal volume and value during January-May 2024.”

China accounted for 17.4% share of the total number of VC deals announced globally during January-May 2024 while its share of the corresponding funding value stood at 16.5%.

Bose adds: “China’s improved performance in terms of value can also be related improvement in performance of big-ticket deals during January-May 2024.”

In fact, China, which did not see the announcement of any billion-dollar deal (≥ $1 billion) during January-May 2023, saw the announcement of three such deals during the same period in 2024. Moreover, the number of VC deals valued ≥ $100 million YoY increased from 26 to 29.

Some of the notable VC funding deals announced in China during January to May 2024 include $1.5 billion secured by Changxin Technology Group, $1.1 billion raised by IM Motors, $1 billion by Moonshot AI, and $933 million worth venture funding raised by Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology.

Bose concludes: “The substantial rise in VC funding value, despite fewer deals, reflects growing VC investor confidence in the maturity and potential of Chinese startups. The emergence of billion-dollar deals underscores the dynamic nature of China’s startup ecosystem, positioning it as a critical player in the global venture capital arena.”

Note: Historic data may change in case some deals get added to previous months because of a delay in disclosure of information in the public domain.