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随着中国政府努力控制债务规模，对生物科技行业的投资逐渐枯竭。
测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
lukewarm [ˌluːkˈwɔːm] adj.不温不火
debut [ˈdeɪbjuː] n.首发，发行
crunch [krʌntʃ] n.紧缩
acute [əˈkjuːt] adj.急性
阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。
China’s biotech sector, which secured more than $17bn investment last year, is struggling to attract fresh funding as tightened domestic liquidity chills a once-flourishing venture capital market.
The $17.2bn of venture capital invested in Chinese companies developing original medicines last year represented an annual increase of 50 per cent, according to consultancy ChinaBio.
But most of the funding came in the first half of the year, with deals falling by a third in the following six months to $6.9bn. China healthcare-focused funds raised $19.4bn in the second half of the year, a third less than in the same period a year before, according to ChinaBio.
“The poor performance of global stock markets, the Sino-US trade war and the depreciation of the renminbi led a lot of investors to change their attitude in the past few months,” said Wang Jian, a partner at OrbiMed, a healthcare fund.
Chinese biotechs have flourished in recent years, with more than 800 new molecules at clinical trial or in pre-trial testing — up from 240 in 2012, according to McKinsey. In fields such as Car-T therapy, an innovative procedure being used to treat cancer patients, Chinese companies eclipse US peers by the number of trials.
They have lured executives from pharma multinationals with higher salaries and benefits, while last year Beijing approved several domestically developed innovative drugs for commercial sale.
Hong Kong’s stock exchange in April allowed listings by research-stage biotechs which are yet to generate profits, giving early investors a route to exit investments. Six Chinese biotechs listed last year, raising HK$25.4bn ($3.2bn).
But the listings have had a lukewarm reception, with three — Ascletis, BeiGene, and Hua Medicine — trading below their debut prices, with secondary investors struggling to match high valuations before listing.
“In the past few years, there has been a bubble in pharmaceutical market valuations,” said Xiong Lei founder of 3DMed, a cancer start-up which received $120m in a 2017 investment round.
Weaker biotech funding reflects a wider slowdown in venture capital activity in China as Beijing slows credit growth to reduce debt levels. Venture capital investment in China of $18.3bn in the last quarter of 2018 was down 12 per cent from the same period a year earlier, according to data company Preqin. The number of deals fell 25 per cent to 713.
While renminbi funding has suffered, investors say Chinese dollar-denominated fundraising remains relatively healthy. Chinese company Qiming Venture Partners said last week it was raising $250m for a second US-targeted healthcare fund.
If Trump prevents Chinese investors buying US assets, then more capital will be available domestically
Scott Liu, chief executive of Shanghai Henlius Biotech
Investors cite new asset management regulations requiring stricter matching of the maturities of assets and liabilities, on capital flowing into start-ups from banks, trusts and listed companies.
“It’s a harsh wintertime for venture capital,” said Harry Wang, chief executive of Linear Capital, a tech fund. He said it took just a few months to raise 90 per cent of a Rmb120m ($18m) fund by March, but another six to raise the final 10 per cent.
This year will be “the worst time for start-ups”, Mr Wang predicted. Funds are asking companies to accept lower valuations, pare back operating costs and surrender 20 per cent of ownership, rather than a previous norm of 10 per cent, he added.
The funding crunch is particularly acute for biotechs due to the high cost of research — up to Rmb10m a year for companies with pre-trial molecules, and more than Rmb100m a year once trials begin, according to investors.
Mabspace Biosciences and Hangzhou Just Biotherapeutics, which focus on cancer treatments, merged last month having raised more than $160m between them since 2013. Such deals will become more common as a way of reducing funding pressure, say investors.
Other biotechs are paring down the number of treatments they are investigating. Chinese biotech Dizal raised $133m from AstraZeneca and a domestic fund last year. “Even with that funding there is not enough cash, so we have to be careful . . . how to prioritise is very important,” said Xiaolin Zhang, chief executive.
A Washington clampdown on Chinese venture capital investment into US tech start-ups could offer some reprieve. China-based funds participated in investment rounds in US biotech companies worth a record $5.1bn in the first half 2018.
“If Trump prevents Chinese investors buying US assets, then more capital will be available domestically,” Scott Liu, chief executive of Shanghai Henlius Biotech told an industry conference late last year. Henlius, which raised $156m in its latest funding round last year, in December filed for a Hong Kong initial public offering.
Some investors argue the funding crunch will make valuations more rational. “The cooling of the market is a good thing for the industry,” said OrbiMed’s Mr Wang. “The previous bubble was very unfavourable for long-term investors.”
Twitter: @hancocktom
请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：
A.Loose foreign liquidity
B.Loose domestic liquidity
C.Tightened foreign liquidity
D.Tightened domestic liquidity
答案 (1)
A.The poor performance of global stock markets
B.The Sino-US trade war
C.Breakthough in fields such as Car-T therapy
D.The depreciation of the renminbi
答案 (2)
A.A procedure for treating mental illness
B.A procedure for treating car accident injury
C.A procedure for treating cancer
D.A procedure for treating AIDS
答案 (3)
A.Trump prevents Chinese investors from buying US assets
B.Trump prevents US investors from buying China assets
C.Trump encourages Chinese investors to buy US assets
D.Trump encourages US investors to buy US assets
答案 (4)
(1) 答案：D. Tightened domestic liquidity解释：China’s biotech sector, which secured more than $17bn investment last year, is struggling to attract fresh funding as tightened domestic liquidity chills a once-flourishing venture capital market.
(2) 答案：C. Breakthough in fields such as Car-T therapy解释：“The poor performance of global stock markets, the Sino-US trade war and the depreciation of the renminbi led a lot of investors to change their attitude in the past few months,” said Wang Jian, a partner at OrbiMed, a healthcare fund.
(3) 答案：C. A procedure for treating cancer解释：In fields such as Car-T therapy, an innovative procedure being used to treat cancer patients, Chinese companies eclipse US peers by the number of trials.
(4) 答案：A. Trump prevents Chinese investors from buying US assets解释：“If Trump prevents Chinese investors buying US assets, then more capital will be available domestically,” Scott Liu, chief executive of Shanghai Henlius Biotech told an industry conference late last year.