KKR ist nach Shanghai gekommen, um Yuan zu sammeln.

The vane moment has arrived.

According to investment industry sources, Kaide Shipu (Shanghai) Private Equity Investment Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership), the onshore private investment entity under KKR, has completed fund registration with the Asset Management Association of China and officially landed in the Lingang New Area of Shanghai.

This means that KKR has successfully tested the waters in raising a RMB - denominated fund in Shanghai. The private fund manager is Kaide Private Fund Management (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., and its new Shanghai office opened last year.

In 2025, with the shift of economic power from the West to the East, the narrative of the revaluation of Chinese assets is in full swing. Just today, the total market capitalization of A - shares has exceeded the 100 - trillion - yuan mark for the first time in history. Amidst the fluctuations, we have witnessed a trend - foreign institutions are flocking here, snapping up Chinese assets. Perhaps this is just the beginning.

KKR's First RMB - denominated Fund Lands in Shanghai

Let's take a look at this new fund first.

According to the Asset Management Association of China, Kaide Shipu (Shanghai) Private Equity Investment Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership) (hereinafter referred to as "Kaide Shipu (Shanghai)") was established in June 2025, with its registered address in Pudong, Shanghai. The fund type is "equity investment fund", and the currency is RMB in cash. Kaide Private Fund Management (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Kaide (Shanghai)") is the fund manager, which is backed by KKR.

Investment industry insiders learned that this is KKR's first onshore RMB - denominated fund raised in Shanghai. The list of LPs has emerged, including the mother fund under Ping An Capital, a leading domestic institution, the Cao family business "TPC" headquartered in Singapore, and a fund under the international asset management giant Schroders.

This scenario has been in the making for a long time. As early as October 2023, the official WeChat account of Shanghai Finance announced a meeting - Zhou Xiaoquan, the director of the Shanghai Local Financial Regulatory Bureau, met with Lu Ming and his entourage, global partners and the executive chairman of the Asia - Pacific region of KKR. During the meeting, Lu Ming said that KKR Group is firmly optimistic about the Chinese economy and introduced KKR's future development plan in Shanghai. Zhou Xiaoquan said that Shanghai warmly welcomes KKR to set up a RMB platform in Shanghai to participate in domestic market investment and apply for the Shanghai QFLP pilot program.

Later, three foreign financial institutions, including Kaide (Shanghai), held a collective opening ceremony in Shanghai and opened a new office in the Xingye Taikoo Hui Center. In fact, KKR's Shanghai office was opened in 2017, and the new office is located downstairs.

All these are a reflection of KKR's further efforts in Shanghai.

Regarding KKR's landing in Lingang, Shanghai, the official of Lingang, Shanghai, said that KKR's attempt to raise a RMB - denominated fund and choose Lingang as its base is not only a key milestone in its in - depth exploration of the Chinese market but also demonstrates the unique attractiveness of Lingang as a frontier for financial opening - up and innovation. With its advantages in opening - up, systems, and policies, Lingang is becoming an important hub for foreign institutions to deeply participate in the Chinese capital market and promote their localization strategies.

KKR in China: Latest Move to Buy Dayao Soda

Currently, there are more than a dozen people in KKR's Shanghai office. Among them, Sun Zheng is the legal representative and chairman of Kaide (Shanghai). He joined KKR's private equity department in 2007 and has since been promoted to the management level. He has participated in the investment projects of ByteDance (Toutiao), Kaiyu Group, and GuaiBao Group. He is currently a partner of KKR Investment Group.

Xu Kang is the general manager and investment director of Kaide (Shanghai). He graduated from Nanjing University with a bachelor's degree and later obtained an MBA from Harvard Business School. He has worked at McKinsey (Shanghai) and Blackstone Group (Hong Kong). Since September 2013, he has served as the vice - president of KKR's post - investment management department and is now a director of KKR's private equity investment team. He has invested in companies such as Dongchedi, Xunce Technology, Kaiyu Group, Sunner Development, and Modern Dairy.

They will jointly manage KKR's first RMB - denominated fund.

With assets under management exceeding $686 billion, KKR has always been active in the Chinese venture capital circle. Since entering the Chinese market in 2007, its total investment has exceeded $7 billion. It has invested in a series of industry leaders such as Nanfu Battery, Mengniu Dairy, and NVC Lighting, and has also acquired the chain pharmacy company Quanyi Health. In addition, KKR has invested in star new - economy companies such as ByteDance, GuaiBao Pet, and Ruichen Pet Hospital.

"We tend to choose industries that are relatively mature, with a stable competitive landscape and concentrated market share." At the beginning of the year, Sun Zheng said in a media interview that among these industries, KKR prefers companies with high pricing power, good profit margins, and room for improvement in management and operational efficiency.

He also objectively pointed out that in the past two years, the number and amount of KKR's investments in China have been lower than in previous years. The reason is that there is a relatively large difference in the price expectations between buyers and sellers in merger and acquisition transactions. "In today's market environment, buyers are relatively cautious and hope to complete transactions at reasonable prices."

Overall, KKR believes that there are far more merger and acquisition opportunities in the market today than five or ten years ago, and it is a good time to make strategic arrangements.

Such is KKR's latest move in China - Dayao Soda. According to the public notice of the Chongqing Market Supervision and Administration Bureau, the "acquisition of the equity of Vision International Co., Ltd. by KKR" has been approved. The latter is said to be an affiliated company of Dayao. In other words, KKR is about to acquire the national soda brand Dayao. In addition, the sale of Starbucks' business in China has been a hot topic in the global PE circle, and KKR is also in the fierce bidding queue.

Buy complexity, sell simplicity - looking forward to KKR's next big deal in China.

The Best Assets Are Still in China

A group of foreign investors are flocking here.

This year, Hans (Shanghai) Private Fund Management Co., Ltd. completed the registration as a private fund manager. Its shareholder is Hines, a globally renowned real - estate operator. This is another wholly - foreign - owned private fund manager that has completed registration this year. Previously, there were also Vanda Private Fund Management (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., Danming (Shanghai) Private Fund Management Co., Ltd., and Aonai De Private Fund Management (Beijing) Co., Ltd.

Among them, Danming (Shanghai) Private Fund Management Co., Ltd. is quite representative, backed by Danming Capital. It is an independent wholly - owned subsidiary of Temasek, a Singaporean state - owned investment institution. In October 2023, it announced its first fund, True Light Fund I, with a scale of $3.3 billion, targeting high - quality investment opportunities in the Greater China region. The Shanghai office of Danming Capital has emerged - located in the Jing'an Kerry Center, it is one of the only two offices outside its Singapore headquarters.

These scenes are a microcosm of the wave of revaluation of Chinese assets.

A historic moment has arrived - today (August 18), the three major A - share indices opened and closed higher. As of the mid - day close, the Shanghai Composite Index reported 3740.50 points, reaching a 10 - year high; the total market capitalization exceeded 100 trillion yuan. This is the first time in A - share history that the market capitalization has exceeded the 100 - trillion - yuan mark. The market's money - making effect has been continuously accumulating, and foreign capital has accelerated its entry into the market to scoop up stocks. Stocks such as Siyuan Electric, Shuanghuan Transmission, Huaming Equipment, and Hongfa Co., Ltd. have been "bought out".

On the other hand, the sharp rise of Chinese assets in the Hong Kong stock market is still vivid in people's memories, and foreign institutions have flocked to the market to grab shares. According to the data of the Central Clearing and Settlement System of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, as of the end of the second quarter of 2025, the cumulative shareholding ratio of stable foreign capital and flexible foreign capital reached 60.4%.

The attitude of overseas funds has changed significantly. They are increasingly aware that the best assets are in China. "The global funds' interest in investing in China can be said to be at the highest level in the past three years," a well - known VC investor shared his perception. Some foreign LPs he has contacted hope to obtain more information about Chinese technology companies, and many of them want to return to the Chinese market and do not want to miss the opportunity of China's technological rise.

The recovery of China's innovative drug industry is a strong proof. Hu Xubo, the managing partner of Qiming Venture Partners, revealed that some international investors regret not participating in the investment in Chinese innovative drug companies in the Hong Kong stock market and missing this wave of opportunities. "Especially since the second half of last year, a number of Chinese innovative drug companies have released amazing clinical data. The industry has found that Chinese companies can do so well, and leading overseas pharmaceutical companies have begun to cooperate with Chinese innovative drug companies."

"Everyone is well aware that China is the world's largest supply - chain country and the world's largest consumer market. Isolation is unrealistic. The world needs us, and we also need the world," Duan Lanchun, the managing partner of Ceyuan Ventures, previously talked about global changes at the Zero2IPO Annual Conference.

Amidst the world's fluctuations, recall the words of Ni Yili, the chairman of McKinsey China: The next China is still China.

This article is from the WeChat public account "Investment World" (ID: pedaily2012), author: Zhou Jiali, published by 36Kr with permission.