Chinese overseas acquisitions continue despite global decline in VC funding: Report

BEIJING - Global venture capital (VC) investment declined in the third quarter of this year, but Chinese VC investors continued to actively look for overseas acquisitions, according to a recent report.

Global VC investment in the third quarter declined 14 percent from the previous quarter, to $24.1 billion, the lowest quarterly funding total since the third quarter of 2014, according to a quarterly global report on VC trends published jointly by KPMG International and CB Insights.

In China, 84 VC investment deals were recorded in the third quarter totalling $3.9 billion, compared to 79 deals worth a total of $5.7 billion three months earlier.

Chinese VC investors are focusing on overseas markets, encouraged by government incentives. In particular, Chinese companies have recently acquired or invested in technology companies in Israel, Canada and the United Kingdom, according to Irene Chu, partner and head of the High Growth Technology and Innovation Group with KPMG China.

"Israel based companies have been especially keen to work with tech VC funds in China in order to promote their technologies to the Chinese market for their mutual benefit," Chu said.

Over the next few quarters, Asia based VC investment might remain focused on using technology to help individuals, improve services or product quality, the report estimated.

The healthcare sector is poised to be a big winner, both in terms of providing accessible health care and in terms of making processes such as booking appointments and writing prescriptions easier for doctors and patients, according to the report.

Investment in entertainment and media technology is also expected to grow heading into 2017.

"In Asia, the next wave of innovation will be about building globally competitive companies. To excel, companies need to understand how foreign businesses are run, including their different cultures and management styles," Chu said.