New figures show that the number of venture-capital and private-equity companies in China, and the value of assets they handled, both increased significantly last year.

According to the National Development and Reform Commission, there were 882 VC and PE firms registered with the Commission at the end of 2011, a 34.3 percent rise compared to 2010, and the value of assets managed by them had increased 41.5 percent to 220.7 billion yuan ($34.6 billion).

Feng Zhongsheng, deputy director at the Department of Fiscal and Financial Affairs of the NDRC, said: "The Chinese VC and PE market continued to grow last year, and its development became more healthy."

According to Feng, the most popular investment target sector was financial services, followed by traditional manufacturing, new energy, and materials.

He added that private investment grew 2.3 percent during the year, and investment from non-State institutions grew by 2.4 percent; but more was actually invested by individuals.

"By the end of 2011, the accumulated investment value for the VC and PE companies was 120.4 billion yuan, a 30.7-percent increase year-on-year.

"There were 1928 new deals made in 2011, 53 more than in 2010," said Feng.

There were 507 exits from registered VC and PE firms, 119 more than 2010.

Feng said VC and PE firms made a major contribution to China's economic development because their investment during the year was worth 29.7 billion yuan, representing added value to the companies they invested in around 17 times.

Zhang Wei, the chairman of leading Nanjing-based VC firm, Govtor Capital Group, said that it had been investing in overseas core high-tech technologies.

caixiao@chinadaily.com.cn