A new industry report shows venture capital (VC) fund collection in China fell 83.7 percent in the third quarter year-on-year, against the backdrop of the global financial turmoil and slower world economic growth.

In total, 20 new venture capital funds with a combined US$492 million were set up from July to September, Zero2IPO Group, a service provider in the domestic VC and private equity industry, said over the weekend.

The report revealed 16 new VC funds were established by domestic financial institutions which garnered a collective US$391 million, accounting for 79.3 percent of the total capital pool raised.

The Beijing-based research company attributed the strong growth momentum to support and encouragement from local governments.

In total, 109 domestic companies received VC fund investment in the third quarter, while 99 firms revealed their combined investment injection stood at US$788 million.

Investment in the information technology sector slowed, with its weighting in the total investment volume decreasing from 45.9 percent in the second quarter to 31 percent in the third quarter.

Traditional industries saw 30 investment cases with a total of US$208 million, and service industries seeing 16 investment events and a combined US$149 million.

(Xinhua News Agency October 19, 2008)