The first quarter figure is the largest quarterly sum ever and more than double the level seen in the same period a year ago, according to data from Pitchbook

The group has already invested in tech - it owns antivirus pioneer McAfee and software firm Landesk - but it remained unclear when it might make an offer

Newly-registered private funds totalled 95.9 billion yuan ($15.16 billion) in January, down 44% month-on-month, according to AMAC

Despite the slowdown, existing foreign groups applied to launch a new high of 74 funds last year, a 220% jump from 2020