HONG KONG – Stagnant initial publicly offered and geopolitical tensions in China have created a challenging environment for venture capital, forcing investors and companies to look elsewhere.

In the first half of the year, mainland China’s total IPO value fell by 84%, to 32.5 billion Yuan ($4.48billion), and only 44 companies were listed, a 75% drop. Dick Kay, Deloitte Capital Market Services Group’s offering service leader, told reporters Friday that the listing pace was much slower in the second quarter. “You saw basically no deals in March or April.”