A 17 billion yuan state-owned capital fund was born in Suzhou.

According to Jiema LP of the investment circle, recently, Suzhou New Creation Future Equity Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership) was established. The executing general partner is Suzhou Guofa Asset Management Co., Ltd., and its business scope includes equity investment, venture capital, and investment activities with self-owned funds.

Specifically, the contribution of this partnership is 17.15 billion RMB, jointly contributed by Suzhou Innovation Investment Group Co., Ltd., Suzhou State-owned Capital Investment Group Co., Ltd., and Suzhou Guofa Asset Management Co., Ltd.

Large-scale investment by Suzhou state-owned assets

After sorting out, Suzhou Guofa Asset Management Co., Ltd., as the executing general partner, is an important member enterprise under Suzhou Innovation Investment Group (abbreviated as: Suzhou VC Group). By initiating and managing various funds, it invests in enterprises in hard technology fields such as electronic information, biomedicine, and high-end equipment manufacturing.

Suzhou VC Group was established in June 2022, led by Suzhou Guofa Venture Capital. It has eight subsidiaries, including Guofa Venture Capital, Industrial Investment Group, Municipal Science and Technology Venture Capital, Suzhou Angel Mother Fund, Suzhou Fund, Municipal Institute of Industrial Research, Municipal Science and Technology Recruitment Center, and Suzhou Strategic Emerging Industry Fund. At that time, its registered capital reached 18 billion RMB, and it immediately entered the first echelon of domestic venture capital.

The official website shows that as of now, the total management scale of Suzhou VC Group exceeds 260 billion RMB. Through two business lines of direct investment and mother funds, Suzhou VC Group has covered multiple key projects in recent years, involving multiple fields such as new energy, artificial intelligence, biomedicine, intelligent vehicle networking, and semiconductors.

In addition, Suzhou State-owned Capital Investment Group Co., Ltd., which jointly participated in this contribution, was officially registered and established in December 2023 and is wholly owned by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Suzhou Municipal People's Government (abbreviated as: SASAC of Suzhou). Its registered capital is as high as 50 billion RMB.

As a wholly state-owned enterprise under the jurisdiction of Suzhou, Suzhou State-owned Capital Investment Group also plays an important role in the operation of state-owned capital and economic development in Suzhou.

It is with the joint contribution of these state-owned assets that Suzhou New Creation Future Equity Investment was officially established.

In recent years, the activity in Suzhou's venture capital circle has been obvious to all.

What is impressive is that in September 2024, led by Suzhou VC Group, 73 science and technology innovation funds with a total scale of nearly 100 billion RMB were jointly launched, targeting "industrial orientation and innovation needs", which caused a sensation at that time.

Since this year, various special industrial funds and talent funds being prepared by Suzhou VC Group in Suzhou have a total scale of nearly 100 billion RMB. Among them, the scale of the first batch of funds is 70 billion RMB, covering five major industrial tracks, as well as various types of funds such as merger and acquisition funds and angel funds - this is a comprehensive integration of Suzhou's venture capital.

Not long ago, Suzhou launched two funds worth 10 billion each. Among them, the Major Industrial Development Fund with a total scale of 10 billion focuses on "chain leader" projects in major industrial fields; the Suzhou Talent No. 1 Fund with a total scale of 10 billion was also officially launched, and Suzhou is accelerating its efforts to attract talents and industries.

In the context of Suzhou's "1030" industrial system, the layout of these funds covers all key industrial clusters and key industrial chains. As far as the eye can see, an imaginative industrial map will be unfolded in Suzhou.

The urban competition never ends

In the industrial competition, every city is seizing opportunities.

Looking at the whole of Jiangsu Province, the horn of competition has already sounded. Going back to June 2024, Jiangsu Province's guidance fund witnessed an unprecedented large-scale layout - the Jiangsu Provincial Strategic Emerging Industry Mother Fund was officially launched, with a total scale of 50 billion RMB.

Eight months later, the provincial mother fund in Jiangsu has successively promoted the establishment or signing of two batches of 36 industrial special funds with a total scale of 91.4 billion RMB. Multiple industrial sub - funds have been registered and established, demonstrating the "Jiangsu speed"; by constructing a three - tier fund structure of provincial mother fund - industrial special fund - industrial sub - fund, the "Jiangsu model" has been established.

Looking across the country, Jiangsu has always been a hotbed for venture capital. Data from Zero2IPO Research Center shows that in the past year, 602 new funds were raised in Jiangsu, with a total raised amount of 171.8 billion RMB, ranking among the top in the country; there were 1,603 investment cases with a total investment amount of 81.8 billion RMB, ranking first in the country.

The prosperity of venture capital leads to the prosperity of industries. The turning points of cities' fates may have been quietly written with the establishment of these industrial funds.

A similar scene is also playing out in Shanghai. At the end of July 2024, Shanghai officially signed and launched three mother funds for leading industries in integrated circuits, biomedicine, and artificial intelligence, with a total scale of about 89 billion RMB. Shanghai State-owned Investment Corporation is the manager of the mother funds. During the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference, the three mother funds for leading industries launched a new round of selection of sub - funds.

At the end of September this year, Shanghai Future Industry Fund announced the completion of an expansion, increasing its scale from 10 billion RMB to 15 billion RMB, and 8 billion RMB has been paid in. Almost at the same time, Shanghai Future Industry Fund announced a new batch of six sub - funds it plans to invest in. So far, Shanghai Future Industry Fund has announced plans to invest in three batches of a total of 18 sub - funds this year, making it the most active state - owned asset at present.

Looking around, the establishment of one super industrial fund after another shows the eagerness of cities to develop emerging industries.

This article is from the WeChat public account "Jiema LP", author: Yang Jiyun, published by 36Kr with authorization.