Patrick McGovern, Chairman and Founder of International Data Group (IDG), announced in Shenzhen that his company set up two VC funds with a total amount of US $500 million and is looking for proper projects in China. “Independence and Creation,” the concept emphasized by the Shenzhen Hi-tech Fair and many creative projects attract more international venture capitals.

This year, there are eight companies in IC industry in Shenzhen received venture capital of US $78 million, of which the largest amount surpassed US $30 million. At present, Shenzhen has conglomerated over 200 VC companies, with a total volume of venture capital received of over 13 billion yuan, ranking the first nationwide.

Why Foreigners are so interested in Shenzhen’s enterprises£¿Hugo Shong, President of IDG Asia, introduced three standards when selecting projects. First, there should be a market that is big enough to expand. Second, they should have advanced technology which is hard for potential competitors to imitate. Third, the administration team is the most important. They should have a strong power of enforcement as well as flexibility.

Venture capital is to invest in the future development and as a result, the hi-tech industry and new economy will be promoted. In 2004, the total volume of output value of hi-tech products in Shenzhen reached 326.65 billion yuan (approximately US $40.83 billion), ranking the No.1 pillar industry in Shenzhen. At present, there are 1,700 key enterprises that are engaged in the development and production of hi-tech products.

IDG is the world leading IT publishing, market research, tradeshow & conference company. It is one of the venture capitalists that entered the Chinese market in the earliest stage. Mr. McGovern, who has paid visits to China for 95 times, said excitedly, “The average return rate of IDG’s investment in China ranks the highest in the world. While in China, the average return rate in Shenzhen ranked the first, about 70 percent.”