Die Geschichte des nächsten Standorts von Staatssektoren-Venture-Capital wird so erzählt.

In the past year, the political environment has changed in many ways. From the concept of investment error tolerance to the adjustment of the review mechanism for state funds, the regulatory authorities have continuously introduced new measures. State - affiliated venture capital institutions have gradually found new ways through continuous communication with the regulatory authorities.

In contrast to previous reforms, one of the key factors in the new phase of state - owned enterprise reform is to encourage state funds to "invest early, in small and technology - strong enterprises".

On June 17, 2025, the State - owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council held a second thematic progress meeting to deepen and improve the reform of state - owned enterprises and specifically assigned reform tasks.

At this meeting, the State - owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission urged central state - owned enterprises to focus on new industries and markets, pay attention to technological characteristics and technological value, properly develop angel investing, risk and equity investments, and encourage state funds to "invest early, in small and technology - strong enterprises".

The Zhejiang Science and Technology Innovation Mother Fund is one of the first state funds to explore the model of "early, small and technology - strong investment".

According to information from Economic Observer, which was in contact with the fund, this state - led fund, initiated by the Zhejiang government, is mainly aimed at attracting private capital to "invest early, in small enterprises and in technology" and supporting technological innovation and the development of strategically emerging industries in Zhejiang.

Since 2025, regions such as Jiangsu, Shanghai, Guangdong, Hubei have also explored "early, small and technology - strong investment" to varying degrees.

Several representatives of state - owned venture capital institutions told Economic Observer that the political environment has changed in many ways in the past year. From the concept of investment error tolerance to the adjustment of the review mechanism for state funds, the regulatory authorities have continuously introduced new measures. State - affiliated venture capital institutions have gradually found new ways through continuous communication with the regulatory authorities.

When exploring these new ways, state - owned venture capital institutions face new challenges.

Feng Jianlin, deputy general manager and head of the investment department of Guangzhou Industry Control Science and Technology Group Co., Ltd., believes that in Guangzhou, the risk tolerance of state capital is still insufficient, which to some extent affects the willingness to invest when it comes to promoting "early, small and technology - strong investment" with state capital.

According to information from Economic Observer from the State - owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (hereinafter referred to as the "SASAC"), it will determine the direction of future state investments.

In the next step, the SASAC will strive to promote the reform of the institutional mechanism for technological innovation, industrial innovation and the integration of the two, and encourage state funds to "invest early, in small and technology - strong enterprises".

In the specific implementation, the SASAC will give a certain buffer period for growth and development to new technologies, new business models and new industries, and attach importance to the integration after the recombination and acquisition of strategically emerging businesses.

The Choice of Zhejiang Venture Capital

Before the recent statement of the SASAC at the above - mentioned thematic progress meeting regarding the "early, small and technology - strong investment" of state funds, local state - owned venture capital institutions and state funds had already shown initiative.

In 2025, the Zhejiang Science and Technology Innovation Mother Fund focused on "early, small and technology - strong investment".

At that time, Zhejiang established three fund groups, namely the "Industry Cluster Funds, the Specialized, Refined, Distinctive and Innovative Funds and the Science and Technology Innovation Mother Fund", and created a model in which the "Specialized, Refined, Distinctive and Innovative Funds + Science and Technology Innovation Mother Fund" cooperate to support "early, small and technology - strong investment".

According to information from Economic Observer, Zhejiang took the lead in reforming the review and evaluation mechanism of state - led funds. It extended the term of the Science and Technology Innovation Mother Fund from the original 8 - 10 years to 15 years, and at the same time extended the review period for the subsidiary funds to encourage the subsidiary funds to be patient capital.

In terms of the error - tolerance concept, Zhejiang clearly stipulated that no liability - determination procedure will be initiated if the loss of a single Specialized, Refined, Distinctive and Innovative Fund or the Science and Technology Innovation Mother Fund is less than 40% of the capital.

Compared with the above - mentioned Science and Technology Innovation Mother Fund, Zhejiang Venture Capital Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Zhejiang Venture Capital") is one of the first state - owned enterprises to take this path.

When Zhejiang Venture Capital first contacted Huahai Qingke in 2019, it faced criticism in the industry.

At that time, Huahai Qingke had an annual turnover of just over 35 million yuan and a loss of over 36 million yuan.

The STAR Market had not opened yet, and international corporations had dominated the market for CMP (Chemical Mechanical Polishing) equipment for decades.

According to information from Economic Observer from Zhejiang Venture Capital, despite Huahai Qingke having a certain technological reserve at that time, there was still a risk of technological implementation.

Considering the risk of technological maturity, Huahai Qingke had a certain technological breakthrough in areas such as CMP equipment and other semiconductor equipment at that time. However, it was still uncertain whether these technologies could function stably and efficiently in practical production and achieve the expected performance indicators. For example, a CMP equipment must enable high - precision wafer polishing in a complex process environment. Technological maturity has a direct impact on product quality and productivity.

Considering the risk of market acceptance, it is also questionable whether the market will accept these products even if the technology can be successfully implemented into products. The semiconductor equipment market is highly competitive. As a young company, Huahai Qingke has relatively low brand awareness and market share and has to invest a lot of time and energy to develop the market and convince customers to accept its products.

In addition, there is also the risk of technological iteration.

In the semiconductor industry, technologies are developing rapidly. Huahai Qingke has to continuously invest in research and development to stay technologically leading. If the company cannot keep up, its existing technology may be replaced by the market, which would mean that the previous investments in technological implementation would be in vain.

According to information from Economic Observer from Zhejiang Venture Capital, the risk of losing core technicians was also one of the central discussion topics of the Zhejiang Venture Capital team at that time.

The discussion at that time focused on the question: "If core technicians leave during technological implementation, it could lead to an interruption or delay in technological implementation and even a technology leak." Because the technological research and development of Huahai Qingke highly depends on the professional knowledge and experience of core technicians.

In addition, technological implementation requires a large amount of financial investment, including research and development expenses, equipment purchase costs and marketing expenses. At that time, Huahai Qingke's capital was relatively scarce. Whether the investment from Zhejiang Venture Capital would be sufficient to cover all the financial needs during technological implementation and whether the company could successfully carry out technological implementation were questions that had to be considered.

All these problems deterred other potential investors, and Zhejiang Venture Capital also faced external pressure and doubts.

Compared with other venture capital institutions, Zhejiang Venture Capital was the first to choose "early, small and technology - strong investment".

The Zhejiang Venture Capital team saw the rare value of Huahai Qingke: At that time, it was the only company in China that could offer commercial 12 - inch CMP models. Its technology filled the gap in high - quality domestic semiconductor equipment and directly competes with international corporations such as Applied Materials from the United States and Ebara from Japan.

The Strategy for Hard - Tech Investments

In 2025, Zhejiang Venture Capital's investment in Huahai Qingke brought a financial return: A total of 470 million yuan was repaid, which corresponds to a 15.6 - fold return.

The success of Zhejiang Venture Capital is not an isolated case.

Zhu Changming, a partner of Yangguang Law Firm, believes that the reform and innovation mechanism of local state capital is an important support for the development of early - stage technology companies.

The strategy of the Early - Stage Hard - Tech Fund initiated by the Shanghai International Group is based on Shanghai's reform and innovation mechanism.

Official information shows that the fund has a target volume of 1 billion yuan and the first tranche is about 200 million yuan. On January 29, 2024, an investment and cooperation contract was signed.

According to information on the official website, the Shanghai International Group is an important financial investment platform in Shanghai with relatively rich financial resources and a professional investment team. The Early - Stage Hard - Tech Fund initiated by it can fully utilize the group's experience and resources in the financial sector to create a solid foundation for the operation of the fund.

After an analysis of the financial and technology policies of the Shanghai government by Economic Observer, the Shanghai government has issued a series of supporting policies.

For example, the release of the "Action Plan to Support the Construction of an International Financial Center in Shanghai" has created a good policy environment for the Hard - Tech Fund of the Shanghai International Group and helped the fund attract more capital and projects.

Since 2024, the Hard - Tech Fund of the Shanghai International Group has founded an industrial legal community several times with other local industrial funds and financial institutions in Shanghai. Through cooperation with companies in the entire value - chain, it has provided multi - dimensional support to investment projects and promoted the implementation of research results and industrial development.

In terms of development philosophy, the Hard - Tech Fund of the Shanghai International Group focuses on the hard - tech field. The fund focuses on investments in areas such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence and biomedicine, which have high technological barriers and high market potential.

Zhu Changming believes that the fund can benefit from the growth of young hard - tech companies through investment and at the same time support technological innovation and industrial upgrading in Shanghai.

So far, the Hard - Tech Fund of the Shanghai International Group has developed relatively mature market behavior.

Taking project selection and evaluation as an example, the fund has established a complete mechanism for project selection and evaluation to evaluate factors such as technological innovation, market prospects, team strength of investment projects.

After an investigation of several investment projects of the fund by Economic Observer, the fund not only provided financial support after investment, but also offered post - investment management and value - added services to the companies. For example, it helped the companies optimize their management structure, expand their market channels and connect resources in the entire value - chain to improve the competitiveness and growth of the companies.

In terms of the exit mechanism, the fund has developed a diverse exit mechanism, including IPO (Initial Public Offering), acquisition and capital transfer.

In addition to Shanghai, regions such as Hubei and Beijing have also gradually developed their own logic for hard - tech investments.

The State - owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Beijing has urged the relevant companies to align their investment direction with new industries and markets, focus on technological characteristics and technological value, and properly develop angel investing, risk and equity investments in the next step.

The Direction

According to information from Economic Observer from the State - owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (hereinafter referred to as the "SASAC"), it will determine the direction of future state investments.

In the next step, the SASAC will strive to promote the reform of the institutional mechanism for technological innovation, industrial innovation and the integration of the two, and encourage state funds to "invest early, in small and technology - strong enterprises".

In the specific implementation, the SASAC requires relevant central state - owned enterprises to systematically align with the national strategy for the development of important industries based on their plans, scientifically formulate the "15th Five - Year Plan" for state - owned enterprises, make overall plans based on their own strategic positioning and industrial strengths, and select the "main direction of attack" for promoting strategically emerging industries to avoid "internal competition" and blind diversification.

The SASAC will also give a certain buffer period for growth and development to new technologies, new business models and new industries, and attach importance to the integration after the recombination and acquisition of strategically emerging businesses.

Feng Jianlin warns that currently, the risk tolerance of state capital for "early, small and technology - strong investment" is low, which affects the willingness to invest; the exit options for early - stage projects are one - sided, and the exit mechanism for early - stage investment projects is not sufficiently developed, which makes it difficult for state capital to withdraw smoothly after investment; the inter - ministerial cooperation mechanism needs to be improved. Promoting "early, small and technology - strong investment" requires the cooperation of multiple ministries, but...