<article>A group of Chinese state-owned companies have set up an industry fund, aiming to raise a total of 500 million yuan ($71 million) to develop the Greater Bay Area, an integrated economic and tech innovation hub comprising Hong Kong, Macau, and nine cities in southern China.</article>

A group of Chinese state-owned companies have set up an industry fund, aiming to raise a total of 500 million yuan ($71 million) to develop the Greater Bay Area, an integrated economic and tech innovation hub comprising Hong Kong, Macau, and nine cities in southern China.
The area, which the Chinese government sees as a potential rival to Silicon Valley in the US, is home to some 68 million people and has a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of about $1.5 trillion, roughly equivalent to that of Australia or South Korea.
The new fund seeks to raise 200 million yuan ($28 million) for its initial close and will primarily back companies in the fields of technology, new consumption, culture and entertainment, according to a recent statement.
Besides the Greater Bay Area, the fund will also look for investment opportunities in southeastern China’s Jiangxi province.
The fund has been launched by Yuexiu Industrial Fund, the investment platform of Chinese state-owned Yuexiu Group; a fund operated by Chinese national investment management firm GOFAR Holdings; and Huazhang Investment, a wholly owned private equity and venture capital unit of Chinese media firm Jiangxi Publishing Group.
China is witnessing a flurry of investment platforms being set up with government support and capital as the country seeks to reduce its longstanding reliance on high-tech imports.
Shenzhen Capital Group, one of the most active state-backed venture capital platforms in China, has injected nearly 40 billion yuan ($5.68 billion) into over 910 companies since the local government in southern China’s Shenzhen city established the firm in August 1999.
The company has enjoyed 140 exits through initial public offerings (IPOs), with 40.32 per cent in internal rate of return (IRR), according to statistics disclosed by China’s State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council in February 2019.

A group of Chinese state-owned companies have set up an industry fund, aiming to raise a total of 500 million yuan ($71 million) to develop the Greater Bay Area.

State-owned firms launch fund to raise $71m for China's Greater Bay Area

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State-owned firms launch fund to raise $71m for China's Greater Bay Area

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