Venture capital investments in China jumped almost 50% from $86.7 billion in 2020 to a new record of $130.6 billion for 2021, according to the research firm Preqin. The growth was achieved despite regulatory crackdowns on major players such as Alibaba, Tencent, and ByteDance over the past year. Hard-core technologies like semiconductors, robotics, and enterprise software have drawn entrepreneurs and investor attention according to Preqin’s data. China still trailed the US’s $296.6 billion in overall venture investment last year, although Chinese firms have surpassed their US counterparts in certain areas such as chips and integrated circuits. [Bloomberg]