China's venture capital market saw vigorous fund raising and investments in the second quarter, said Monday's China Daily, citing a new report from the market researcher Zero2IPO Group.

According to the report, 17 funds were established in the second quarter, among which newly raised funds available for investment in China's mainland totaled US$1.37 billion.

The number of new funds increased by seven from the previous quarter, and newly added capital increased by 53.8 percent.

Zero2IP Group CEO Gavin Ni said the country's robust economic recovery, pending initial public offerings (IPOs) and new rules for listing on the Growth Enterprise Board (GEB) have attracted the positive attention of investment institutions at home and abroad.

In the second quarter, 99 Chinese enterprises attracted venture capital investments, including 77 that reported investments totaling US$567.89 million.

The Zero2IPO report showed that both the number and amount of investment deals rose quarter-on-quarter. The number of deals increased by 46, or 86.8 percent. The amount involved increased from US$319.68 million in the previous quarter to US$567.89 million.

Five private equity (PE) funds available for investment in China completed fund raising totaling US$1.82 billion - a three-fold increase from the first quarter.

A total of 13 cross-border merger and acquisition (M&A) deals were completed in the second quarter, and 10 of them disclosed a total of US$4.31 billion.

Compared with the same period last year, the number of cross-border M&A deals fell 40.9 percent, but the total M&A value jumped 178.5 percent.

(Xinhua News Agency July 27, 2009)