According to the KPMG Pulse of Fintech report for the second quarter of 2024, Asian companies supported by venture capital achieved a total of 2155 transactions in the quarter, raising a total of $17.4 billion. In this period, China accounted for six out of the top ten venture capital transactions in Asia. Looking ahead to the third quarter of 2024, it is expected that artificial intelligence and new energy vehicles will continue to attract risk investors. Although the Chinese venture capital market is expected to remain relatively subdued, it may rebound from the low levels seen in the second quarter. As many Chinese companies prepare to go public, the market expects a rebound in the IPO market in 2025. Unlike other regions, e-commerce and consumer businesses remain favored by investors in Asia. The two largest transactions in the quarter in Asia included the $1.9 billion fundraising for Singapore's online trading platform Lazada and the $1 billion fundraising for India's e-commerce platform Flipkart. The new energy and semiconductor sectors continued to attract Chinese venture capital in the second quarter of 2024. Electric car manufacturer Nezha Motors raised $693 million, while Semiconductor Manufacturing Epoch raised $599 million. Although investment in the electric vehicle industry is still active compared to other industries, transaction activity has slowed down as market competition intensifies. Integration is expected to occur in the coming quarters. KPMG China partner Wei Shiwei said that in the second quarter, artificial intelligence continued to attract significant funding in China's venture capital market, with investors particularly interested in AI applications. Over the past year, the number of startups focusing on artificial intelligence has increased significantly, and many emerging companies have received investments as a result. However, venture capitalists are cautious about investing in artificial intelligence, considering whether companies can successfully achieve results and commercialize their products. Artificial intelligence companies were in the spotlight in the second quarter of 2024, with related venture capital transactions including the $528.7 million funding for the retail-oriented Zuoyuan Supermarket, the $400 million funding for the generative artificial intelligence company Zhilu AI, and the $277.8 million funding for the artificial intelligence and IoT platform TESSUN. Many Chinese AI investments in the quarter focused on AI-enabled areas such as robotics and other productivity enhancement categories, rather than large language model (LLM) products. Venture capitalists also showed strong interest in AI related to autonomous driving. KPMG Hong Kong's director of transaction strategy and M&A financing, Zhao Jiaxin, said that in the second quarter of 2024, Chinese venture investors tended to be cautious and were not rushing into major transactions. Instead, they preferred to spend more time on due diligence, with some investors even adopting a wait-and-see attitude, delaying investment decisions to evaluate the long-term performance of target companies. In order to stimulate investment, local governments have provided a significant amount of matching funds for companies in key strategic industries, including semiconductors, new energy, new materials, and artificial intelligence.