China Maotai Launches 36 Billion Won Private Equity Fund for Science and Technology Investment

Moutai, famous for its Baijiu liquor, has established a specialized fund for investment in science and technology. This move has attracted even more attention as it comes amid various attempts, such as recently partnering with local coffee and American chocolate brands to launch collaborative products.

According to the Shanghai Securities News on the 21st, China Guizhou Moutai Distillery (Moutai) Group and Moutai Private Equity Management (Moutai Private Equity) recently jointly invested to establish the Moutai Kechuang (科創·Science and Innovation) Investment Fund Joint Venture Company. The investment amount is approximately 200 million yuan (about 36.4 billion KRW).

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

Moutai Private Equity is a private equity and venture capital management company established in 2014. Moutai holds an 80.1% stake, while the remaining 19.9% is owned by Zhenxin Investment Fund. According to disclosures by the China Foundation Association, Moutai Private Equity has registered and is operating five funds since its establishment, including sectors such as food and tourism. The newly established Moutai Kechuang Fund has not yet submitted detailed information to the association, so specific investment targets have not been disclosed.

Prior to this, in August, Moutai also established the Moutai Jinshi Industrial Development Fund (Moutai Jinshi) and the Moutai Zaohua Industrial Development Fund (Moutai Zaohua). The total investment amount reached 5.51 billion yuan.

The Shanghai Securities News evaluated, "It is noteworthy that Moutai, which has been active in various activities this year, has shown interest in investment in the science and technology sector." It further explained, "Previously, Moutai stated that the investment scope of the Moutai Jinshi and Moutai Zaohua funds includes next-generation information technology, biotechnology, new energy, new materials, advanced equipment, and consumer sectors."

In the second quarter, Moutai also posted a notice on its official website recruiting investment managers, fund legal managers, and administrators. The notice specified that the investment managers to be hired should be responsible for equity investment in consumer, technology, and Moutai-related industries, building project financial models, evaluation and return analysis, adjusting investment funds, and conducting project due diligence.

As the U.S. supply chain exclusion and pressure intensified, China has poured massive capital into strengthening its own technological capabilities. According to the "2022 National Science and Technology Expenditure Input Statistics" recently released by the National Bureau of Statistics of China, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Finance, China’s research and development (R&D) investment last year exceeded 3 trillion yuan for the first time, reaching 3.07899 trillion yuan. Among this, the Chinese government’s fiscal expenditure related to science and technology amounted to 1.11284 trillion yuan, a 3.4% increase from the previous year.

According to the China Qingke Research Center, last month, the investment scale of Chinese venture capital and private equity reached 56.026 billion yuan, with 345 deals recorded. Among these, the top three industries by investment amount were semiconductors and electronic equipment, automobiles and biotechnology, and healthcare. By number of deals, information technology (IT), biotechnology and healthcare, and semiconductors and electronic equipment were highlighted.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.