The rising Chinese economy has created a new super-wealthy class in China, even if this only comprises 1% of its population, it will still create millions of new wealthy people in China. One only needs to see the increase of Chinese overseas students in the UK, Canada, USA, Australia to see how much wealth has been created over the past 10 years. Increasing number of companies are looking for Chinese investors, here are some thoughts our team have put together to help you:
1. Chinese Individuals or Institutions?
The Chinese investors are not really in the same structure as in the United States, many investors will be individual investors instead of institutions like venture capital or private equity firms. You will not find profile of these individual investors; many of them invest in them directly instead of going through an investment fund.
2. Targeting Chinese CEOs and Chinese Directors
One of the more active methods is to target CEOs and directors of Chinese companies directly, they like to form small syndicates to invest in an opportunity, usually also stay low profile as well. This is also the quicker and easier way then targeting at State owned investment funds as that often takes a long process for negotiation.
3. Chinese Trade Delegates
Every year, the Chinese Government will organize trade visits – these delegates include many executives; and they travel overseas to identify new business opportunities. The best method to get information will be from your local Chinese consulate or embassies. They do not publicize these trade visits very often, so you need to identify them yourself.
4. Chinese Investment & Trade Exhibitions
There are several Chinese Trade and Finance exhibitions each year, the recent one was CIFIT which was dedicated for foreign investors to identify opportunities in China. These events are some of the largest events in the world, with over 100,000 attending each year. They also offer business-matching sessions. This is a good opportunity to connect with potential investors.
5. Connect with Hong Kong or Taiwanese Investors Overseas.
Hong Kong & Taiwanese investors have been investing in China since early 1980s, and they have much deeper connections with local businesses than many American and European businesses. They are also early immigrants especially in cities like New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver or Toronto. There are numerous Hong Kong & Taiwanese business associations in these cities, you can join these associations and connect with others.
6. Chinese Blogs and Investment Forums
This is very useful way to identify investors. We visit these forums frequently, and we often see messages like “Looking for investments to invest, representing high netwealth investors”, or “looking for investments to qualify for immigration”. All these forums are mainly in Chinese language. You can make announcements or profile of your opportunities into Chinese and utilize these forums to generate leads. This is also a good channel to find Chinese placement agents or corporate advisors.
In your summary, mention how your opportunity can be an opportunity in China, as that’s what many Chinese investors thinking as well.
7. Contact venture capital and private equity firms in Asia
A large number of new venture capital firms were formed over the past 10 years; many are domiciled in Hong Kong and Singapore but backed by Mainland Chinese investors. The firms in Hong Kong & Singapore usually have international mandate.
8. Optimize your website for Chinese Search Engines.
Contact RE China – China Real Estate Marketing services that can help your website rank higher in Chinese Search Engines such as Baidu.