China in venture capital winter, 'worst' IPO exit market in decades

HONG KONG -- Stagnant initial public offerings and geopolitical tensions have created a challenging venture capital environment in China, forcing companies and investors to look elsewhere for opportunities.

During the first six months of the year, the total value of mainland China's IPOs has plummeted 84% on the year to 32.5 billion yuan ($4.48 billion), while only 44 companies went public, down 75%. "The listing pace in the second quarter is much slower," Dick Kay, offering service leader of Deloitte's capital market services group, told reporters on Friday. "Basically, you saw no deals in March and April."