Recently, state-owned funds such as Guoxin Venture Capital Fund and Guobing Xiangxin Development Fund have been landing intensively, and the Central Enterprise Strategic Emerging Industry Development Fund is also accelerating its preparations. Industry insiders suggest that by focusing on investing in early, small, long-term, and hard technology, and being a good long-term and patient capital, a large amount of funds are expected to accelerate their concentration in emerging industries by 2025, providing them with a "source of fresh water" for their development. Since the beginning of 2025, state-owned assets have been making frequent moves in the field of funds. On January 18th, the signing ceremony for the cooperation between the parent fund and the intended sub fund of Guochuang Investment was held in Beijing. This fund was initiated and established by China National News Corporation, with investment cooperation units including China Minmetals Corporation, China Steel Research Institute, China National Building Materials Corporation, China Youyan, China Electric Equipment, Hangzhou Capital, Xingxiang Group, etc. The initial scale is 10 billion yuan, with a total duration of 15 years. It adopts a parent subsidiary fund structure, and will also launch a number of sub funds in Hangzhou, Hunan, Xi'an and other areas in the future. Prior to this, on January 3rd, China Ordnance Equipment Group, together with Hubei Provincial Investment Guidance Fund, Wuhan Fund, and Hongshan Capital, jointly invested in the establishment of the Guobing Xiangxin Development Fund, with an initial scale of 1.5 billion yuan. On December 21, 2024, China Chengtong, Sinopec, China Aviation Oil, and the Haidian District Government of Beijing jointly signed a cooperation framework agreement in Beijing to establish the Chengtong Science and Technology Innovation Investment Fund, with a total fund size of 30 billion yuan. Along with the intensive establishment of central enterprise venture capital funds, local state-owned assets have also taken action. On January 20th, the Shanghai Future Industry Fund, with a total scale of 10 billion yuan, officially released its application guidelines and extended an olive branch to VC/PE institutions across the country. On January 10th, the Guangxi Strategic Emerging Industry Development and Traditional Industry Transformation and Upgrading Fund, initiated by Guangxi Investment Group, completed its business registration with a total scale of 4.5 billion yuan. It is one of the first approved funds in the "1+10+N" fund cluster in Guangxi. In the complex and ever-changing domestic and international economic situation, state-owned assets are becoming an important force in the venture capital market. According to data from the State owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, as of July 2024, central enterprises managed a total of 126 venture capital funds with a subscribed capital of 52.9 billion yuan and an invested amount of 31.3 billion yuan, mainly invested in advanced manufacturing, energy, electronic information and other fields. The State owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council and the National Development and Reform Commission will jointly introduce policy measures by the end of 2024 to promote the high-quality development of central enterprise venture capital funds and support central enterprises in initiating the establishment of venture capital funds. Zhu Changming, partner of Sunshine Era Law Firm and head of the State owned Enterprise Mixed Reform Center, believes that in the face of the new situation of accelerated technological revolution and industrial transformation, venture capital funds, as a combination investment method of market-oriented operation, can effectively diversify risks and operate efficiently, which is the key to more effectively promoting the "three centralizations" of state-owned capital. Supporting central enterprises to actively establish venture capital funds, driving more social capital participation, can substantially increase the supply of long-term capital and patient capital Liu Xingguo, a special senior researcher at the China Enterprise Confederation, said. Under the real gold and silver of long-term layout in new fields and tracks, the determination of state-owned enterprises to accelerate the layout of new technologies, new fields and new tracks is obvious. From the perspective of Guoxin Venture Capital Fund, it mainly invests in Series A financing and previous projects such as seed stage and start-up stage. In principle, the proportion of Series A financing and previous investment projects should not be less than 50%, and the proportion of investment scale should not be less than 30%. For projects with high growth potential, multiple rounds or joint investment between parent and subsidiary funds can be carried out to achieve long-term companionship. In terms of investment direction, it focuses on the main responsibility and main business, forward-looking strategic emerging industries and future industries, as well as the investment needed for the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain. The proportion of external projects invested in central enterprises shall not be less than 50%, and the proportion of investment scale shall not be less than 30%. The investment areas shall focus on China's new key investment development industries such as integrated circuits, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, future information, future manufacturing, and future health. Investing early, investing small, investing long-term, and investing in hard technology are also reflected in many provisions of the Shanghai Future Industry Fund Application Guidelines. For example, it is explicitly encouraged for sub funds to invest in future industry hard technology projects that are in the stages of concept verification, scientific research achievement pilot testing, and technology enterprise start-up, filling the investment gap in early innovation projects. Dai Xi, Director of the Planning and Development Bureau of the State owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, said at a recent press conference of the State Council Information Office that in the next step, the State owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council will focus on increasing investment, strengthening forward-looking planning and policy guidance, promoting the concentration of incremental funds in strategic emerging industries, better playing the role of the War New Industry Fund and the Central Enterprise Venture Capital Fund, and acting as long-term capital and patient capital. Zhu Changming stated that in the future, state-owned capital will enter strategic emerging industries and future industries on a large scale and efficiently, and the "long-term investment" fund matrix will accelerate its formation, playing a leading and driving role in accelerating the optimization and adjustment of economic structure layout and vigorously developing new quality productive forces. Policy support will be increased to inject "fresh water" into strategic emerging industries through state-owned funds, while also addressing the issue of "daring to invest". The reporter learned in previous interviews that some state-owned funds are facing many problems such as difficulty in adapting their assessment and evaluation, incomplete fault tolerance mechanisms, and somewhat unsmooth exit mechanisms. Since the end of 2024, multiple policy measures have been introduced in response to this. The State owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council and the National Development and Reform Commission have clarified that the central enterprise venture capital fund will establish a market-oriented investment and financing mechanism, and improve the assessment and due diligence compliance exemption mechanism that is in line with the characteristics of state-owned enterprises and central enterprises. Establish a comprehensive assessment mechanism for the entire lifecycle of venture capital funds, with a focus on functional roles. This mechanism should not only keep track of the overall investment portfolio, but also conduct long-term evaluations and assessments; We also need to 'calculate the big account', and the assessment and evaluation should focus on the performance of functions, taking into account factors such as benefits and returns, rather than simply pursuing financial returns as the goal. The Shanghai Municipal State owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, together with the Municipal Party Committee Financial Office, has also jointly issued the "Trial Measures for the Evaluation and Due Diligence Exemption of Private Equity Investment Funds Supervised by the Municipal State owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission", which clarifies the principle of overall evaluation of state-owned assets funds - not using single project losses or failure to meet standards as the basis for negative evaluation of funds or fund managers. At the same time, it is proposed to establish a hierarchical and classified long-term assessment and evaluation system, and issue a due diligence exemption list to encourage state-owned funds to actively participate. On January 21, the People's Government of Guangdong Province officially issued the "Several Measures for the High Quality Development of the Capital Market to Assist Guangdong's Modernization Construction". It is mentioned that there should be smooth channels for market-oriented exit of equity investment. Make good use of exit mechanisms such as equity investment and venture capital fund share transfer pilot, physical distribution of stocks pilot, and reverse linkage of venture capital reduction. Support the market-oriented determination of prices and transfer transactions for various state-owned assets related fund shares in our province. Establish a sound mechanism for coordinating the registration of changes between pilot share transfers and market regulatory departments. Vigorously develop merger and acquisition funds and second-hand share transfer funds (S funds). Zhu Changming believes that the central enterprise venture capital fund should adhere to the organic unity of mission guidance, market-oriented operation, and professional management, improve the fund governance structure, establish a scientific and standardized operation management and investment decision-making mechanism, and establish a sound responsibility mechanism with consistent rights and responsibilities and compatible incentives and constraints. The key is to build a market-oriented selection, management, and incentive mechanism for fund managers, and fully mobilize their enthusiasm. (New Society)