US quant trading giant SIG is quietly winding down its China venture capital team. The unit's head and several employees are expected to leave, and Gong Ting is planning to start a new fund targeting at least $100 million.
SIG isn't pulling out of China entirely. A small team will stay behind to manage existing portfolio companies, most importantly a stake in ByteDance valued at tens of billions of dollars. The firm is also expanding its market-making business in the country.
SIG entered China VC in 2005 and has invested in more than 350 companies. It became ByteDance's first institutional investor in 2012. But since 2023, SIG has completed only nine deals in China.
The US has restricted American capital from investing in certain Chinese AI, chip, and quantum technology companies. That's made China tech VC increasingly difficult, but SIG will continue to manage legacy assets like ByteDance.