20th China Investment Annual Conference Concludes: A New Venture Capital Landscape Amid K-Shaped Divergence

A Twenty-Year Milestone: A Thousand Leaders Discuss the Shifting VC Landscape

From April 22 to 24, 2026, the 20th China Investment Annual Conference & Annual Summit was held in Haidian, Beijing. Themed around the "K-shaped curve," the conference was guided by the Haidian District People's Government of Beijing, hosted by ChinaVenture and CVSource, and co-organized by Beijing Zhongguancun Science City Innovation Development Co., Ltd. Over a thousand industry leaders, investors, and entrepreneurs gathered in Haidian to collectively assess the structural shifts in China's private equity market.

Notably, this marks the second consecutive year the annual conference has been rooted in Beijing's Haidian district. The deepening collaboration between the conference and the district underscores Haidian's powerful appeal as China's premier hub for technological innovation and its thriving venture capital ecosystem.

The "K-Shaped Curve": A Tale of Two Markets

In the opening session, Yang Xiaolei, CEO of ChinaVenture, used the "K-shaped curve" framework to paint a detailed picture of the current polarization in China's venture capital market — where consensus coexists with disagreement, opportunity with adversity, and upward and downward trajectories unfold simultaneously.

Yang stated bluntly that today's VC market does not lack capital; rather, it has entered an era of highly divergent opportunities. Top-tier projects deliver remarkable returns, and simply gaining access to them can generate substantial gains for a fund. However, approximately 70% of existing portfolio projects have yet to achieve exits, revealing a stark power-law effect. This data point exposes the deep-seated anxiety lurking beneath the market's surface-level prosperity.

AI Leads the Way While the Exit Backlog Persists

Yang further noted that the primary market now exhibits the characteristics of "two parallel worlds":

• The Upward Curve: Hard-tech sectors such as AI large models, semiconductor chips, and biotechnology are experiencing a fundraising boom with rising valuations, making them the focal point of capital competition. The AI sector, in particular — spanning large language models, embodied intelligence, AI chips, and AI applications — is seeing a surge of financing deals across virtually every sub-segment.

• The Downward Curve: A large number of existing portfolio companies face prolonged fundraising difficulties, blocked exit channels, and valuation pressure. Investment enthusiasm for sectors like consumer internet and traditional enterprise services has declined markedly, and some small and mid-sized funds face severe fundraising challenges.

This "K-shaped divergence" is not unique to China; it is a common feature of the global venture capital ecosystem under the combined impact of technological revolution and economic cycles. However, in China, this divergence is particularly pronounced due to multiple factors including policy guidance, industrial upgrading, and exit mechanism reforms.

Navigating the Divide: Searching for Anchors of Certainty

Facing this structural divergence, conference attendees engaged in in-depth discussions on how to navigate the "K-shaped curve" and find certainty. Multiple investors noted that in the current environment, investment strategies are shifting from "casting a wide net" to "precision targeting," with significantly greater emphasis on technological moats, commercialization capabilities, and team execution.

On the policy front, the government's sustained support for hard tech and "patient capital" has injected long-term confidence into the market. As one of the most resource-dense regions for technological innovation in China, Beijing's Haidian district — centered on Zhongguancun Science City — is building a complete innovation chain from fundamental research to industrial commercialization, providing VC firms with a natural pipeline of projects and exit pathways.

Outlook: New Consensus Emerging from Divergence

Standing at the milestone of its 20th edition, China's venture capital industry is undergoing a profound transformation from "incremental expansion" to "portfolio optimization." The K-shaped curve is both a challenge and an opportunity — it compels the industry to return to the essence of value creation and concentrate resources on projects with genuine technological breakthroughs and commercialization potential.

As the AI wave continues to reshape the industrial landscape, investment firms that deeply understand technology trends and precisely identify industry inflection points will be the first to find certainty through market cycles. As the core message of this year's conference conveyed: divergence is inevitable, but certainty belongs to those who are prepared.