Most people are familiar with China’s staggering economic statistics – average annual gross domestic product growth over the past 10 years of more than 10%; income per head up from $760 to $3,000 between 2000 and 2010; export growth accounting for 10% of world trade (up from 3.5% in 1999) and an urban population which last year outstripped the rural population for the first time.

More than 10,000 venture and buyout firms now operate in the country, according to recent claims made by China's National Development and Reform Commission. This number includes many of the largest private equity firms in the world, such as the Carlyle Group, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, and Blackstone.