A new report co-produced by China’s state-owned media agency points to sharp declines in blockchain investment and financing deals in 2019.
Xinhua Finance and Rhino Data (烯牛数据) recently released the “2019 Blockchain Sector Investment and Financing Inventory” (2019年区块链行业投融资盘点).
Highlights from the report included the following:
- China saw a total of 245 investment or financing deals in the domestic blockchain sector worth a total of 24.4 billion yuan in 2019, for decline of 59.4% and 40.8% respectively compared to 2018.
- Early stage investment and financing deals accounted for 43.3% of the total, with a sharp rise in strategic investments and mergers and acquisitions in the second half of 2019.
- 292 institutions took part in investment deals, showing a heightened level of caution.
- Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Shanghai were host to the largest number of investment deals.
2018 was an especially strong year for Chinese investment in the blockchain sector, while 2019 investment levels still remain ahead of all preceding years aside from 2018.
Investment in China’s blockchain sector for the period from 2014 – 2019
| Year | Number of deals | Total investment (billion yuan) |
| 2014 | 29 | 1.118 |
| 2015 | 15 | 0.330 |
| 2016 | 71 | 1.612 |
| 2017 | 168 | 7.155 |
| 2018 | 604 | 41.250 |
| 2019 | 245 | 24.438 |
Beijing is China’s main centre for blockchain investment deals, followed by Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Hangzhou and Shanghai.
Distribution of Chinese blockchain sector projects that secured investment in 2019
| City | Project share |
| Beijing | 26% |
| Shenzhen | 9% |
| Hong Kong | 8% |
| Hangzhou | 7% |
| Shanghai | 7% |
| Hainan | 4% |
| Chengdu | 2% |
| Guangzhou | 2% |
| Nanjing | 2% |
| Taiwan | 1% |
| Suzhou | 1% |
| Wuhan | 1% |
| Tangshan | 1% |
| Xiamen | 1% |
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