Venture capital firms invested 50 percent more in Chinese entrepreneurial companies last year although the second half of 2011 saw a slowdown in growth due to a sluggish performance of overseas stock markets, an industry report said yesterday.

Their investment jumped to US$8.95 billion in 2011, research firm China Venture said. Venture capitalists invested in 976 firms last year, 15.9 percent more than a year earlier.

The report said the "nearly saturated investment and fierce competition also restrained investors' enthusiasm in the second half of last year."

The number of cases and investment value in the fourth quarter fell 43 percent and 39 percent from the second quarter.

The report also cautioned that investment by venture capitalists may fall slightly this year due to global economic weakness.

"The overall size of investment will remain stable or even slightly decrease this year due to a slow recovery of the global economy," the report said.

Last year, the average size of a single investment was US$9.17 million, a 30 percent jump from 2010.

The Internet companies made up 8 of the top 10 biggest venture capital investments.