Here are the China trends investors bet money on during a sluggish few months

cnbc.com:

BEIJING — By the numbers, manufacturing companies in China snagged the most investment deals in the first half of the year among 37 sectors tracked by business database Qimingpian.

In fact, the number of early-stage to pre-IPO deals in manufacturing rose by about 70% year-on-year despite Covid controls and a plunge in Chinese stocks during the last six months.

About 300, or roughly a quarter of those deals, were related to semiconductors, preliminary data showed. Several of the investors listed were government-related funds.

Data on early-stage investments aren't always complete due to the private nature of the deals. But available figures can reflect trends in China.

Investor interest in chip companies comes as Beijing has cracked down on consumer-focused internet companies, while promoting the development of tech such as integrated circuit design tools and equipment for producing semiconductors.

Manufacturing accounted for about 21% of investment deals in the first half of the year, according to Qimingpian. The second-most popular industry was business services, followed by health and medicine.

Electric car and transportation-related start-ups ranked first by capital raised, at 193 billion yuan ($28.82 billion), based on available data. Monetary amounts were not disclosed for many deals.

«In the last 12 months I think that there's been a lot of hot capital chasing after a few deals that are in sectors that the government is promoting heavily,» said Gobi Partners managing partner Chibo Tang, without naming specific industries. He said the trend has resulted in dramatic increases in valuation, while fundamentals haven't changed much.

A two-month lockdown in Shanghai and Covid-related restrictions hit business sentiment