Has China Figured Out How To Do That Venture Capital Thing?

from the sooner-or-later dept

Back during the boom years it seemed like every place on earth wanted to claim that they were the next Silicon Valley -- but about all the did was announce that they were going to do that, and come up with some lame nickname starting with Silicon: Silicon Farm, Glen, Beach, Alley, Mountain, Cove, etc. Beyond the fact that silicon usually had little to do with what few tech companies in these places were working on, most of these places lacked the real infrastructure that made Silicon Valley tick. A big part of that is the venture capital industry here, which isn't so easy to replicate -- especially in places where the concept of risk capital (and, actually, plain old risk itself) isn't quite the same as it is here. Love 'em or hate 'em (or, as is so often the case, both), a flourishing venture capital market has helped to fund a ton of high growth businesses. However, there really aren't many reasons why other areas can't figure it out eventually. China is taking a step in the right direction by changing the laws for venture capitalists in that country, giving those firms the ability to break away from a government that has held them back. This isn't to say that the Chinese VC industry will jump to the forefront, but it is a step forward in a country where there's an awful lot of innovating going on -- often with VC money from back here in Silicon Valley.