The Innovative Wave of Private Equity and Venture Capital in China

In 2017, China issued the Plan for the Development of New Generation Artificial Intelligence proposing a strategic objective of “artificial intelligence theory, technology and application attaining, on the whole, a global leading level by 2030, with China becoming one of the world's major centers of artificial intelligence innovation”.

Additionally, referring to information on the approval of artificial intelligence enterprises by the Public Offering Review Committee (PORC), as at August 2018, artificial intelligence enterprises were approved at a rate of 80% by the PORC from 2017 to the present, and if one were to draw a dividing line at the time the new members of the PORC took up their positions, the approval rate of such enterprises before was 66.67% and 100% after.

Since the expanded PORC, the approval rate has increased, and this indicates that the artificial intelligence concept sector, which is in keeping with the state's smart manufacturing strategy, is likely to continue receiving relevant system support, with artificial intelligence industries that comprise such concepts as Made in China 2025, Industry 4.0, and smart manufacturing receiving unanimous approbation from capital markets and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).

We would anticipate that investment in the artificial intelligence and data analysis sectors will continue to grow in the third quarter.

SELF-DRIVING + ELECTRIC CARS + RIDE SHARING

In the second quarter, US electric vehicle manufacturer, Faraday Future, launched a new round of financing, and following its financing in the amount of US$1.5 billion in the first quarter, it raised another US$2 billion. This huge financing haul clearly demonstrates the tremendous enthusiasm of capital for electric cars and self-driving technology.

Self-driving is not a single technology, but closely linked to electric car technology and the ride sharing model to create the future ride-sharing market ecology. This will also drive investment in the entire ecological system.

Traditional car manufacturers are, in addition to increasing their own development of relevant technologies, also increasing their investment in, and cooperation with, startup companies.

A large investor such as the SoftBank Group is likewise carrying out massive plans by investing in a large number of companies in the sector, such as Uber, DiDi, Grab and Ola. And, in future competition and cooperation, these investee companies will become a long-term theme.

AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

With the rise of precision agriculture and intelligent agriculture, agriculture is now undergoing massive changes brought by such new technologies as the internet of things, drones, artificial intelligence and blockchain, and realizing profit growth brought about by both soil management and weather monitoring, on the one hand, and supply chain traceability and predictive analysis, on the other.

In 2017, a new record was set in investment in the agricultural science and technology field and in the first five months of this year, there have already been 105 investment events in this field, with the total investment exceeding US$600 million, including insect protein manufacturer, AgriProtein, US$107 million; agricultural drone service platform, PrecisionHawk, US$75 million; and crop biotechnology company, Cibus, US$70 million.

2 . HOW ARE PE TRANSACTIONS USUALLY FINANCED IN TERMS OF DEAL STRUCTURES?

PE/VC in China mainly takes the form of three deal structures: company, partnership or trust, with the limited liability partnership form being the most common deal model.

COMPANY

The investors in a fund organized as a company participate in the fund's investment as shareholders and bear limited liability for the company's debts to the extent of their capital contributions. Fund managers may exist in two forms: the first is one in which a director of the company, as a senior manager of the company, directly participates in the company's investment management; and the other is one in which an external management company accepts appointment by the fund to carry out investment management on its behalf. Features of a fund organized as a company: is required to pay enterprise income tax; its shares may be listed; investment returns may be retained and used for further investment; and, in addition to enterprise income tax, the investors are required to pay individual income tax, thereby involving the issue of double taxation.

LIMITED PARTNERSHIP

Generally, a fund will take the form of a limited partnership and participate in investment as a partner, and in accordance with the law, enjoys the property rights of a partnership. Its general partner exercises civil rights vis-a-vis third parties as a representative of the fund and bears unlimited joint and several liability for the debts of the fund. The other investors, as limited partners, bear joint and several liability for the debts of the fund to the extent of their capital contributions. In foreign industry practice, a fund manager generally does not serve as general partner but rather manages the fund's investment as engaged by the general partner. However, the two usually have an affiliated relationship. In contrast, in current practice in China, the fund manager generally serves as the general partner. Features of the limited partnership form: the general partner (GP) and the limited partners (LPs) jointly constitute a limited partnership with a private equity investment company, as GP, to promote the establishment of the limited partnership and subscribe for a minor portion of the capital contribution, while the LPs subscribe for the vast majority of the fund's capital contributions. The GP, who bears unlimited liability, is responsible for the investment, operation and management of the fund, and draws a certain percentage of the total amount of the fund each year as the fund management fee; the LPs, who bear limited liability, do not participate in the management of the company, but share in the partnership profits and also have a right to information, a right to consultation, etc.

TRUST

The fund holders, as settlors and beneficiaries, invest in and establish a trust and the fund manager, as trustee, exercises the fund property rights in its own name for the benefit of the fund holders and bears the corresponding trustee responsibilities in accordance with the fund trust contract. Features of the trust form: similar to a limited partnership, likewise having tax exempt status, but the funds must be paid in in one step, and use efficiency is low, and involves trust intermediaries, increasing the fund's operating costs.

3 . DO YOU THINK CHINA, BEING MORE OPEN TO FOREIGN INVESTMENT RECENTLY, WILL HAVE A BIG IMPACT ON PRIVATE EQUITY ACQUISITIONS? IF SO, HOW?

Prior to 2016, subject to the provision of the Foreign Investment Industrial Guidance Catalogue (Amended in 2015) limiting the foreign investment percentage in public and private securities investment fund managers to not more than 49%, foreign firms had no legal means available to establish a holding company in China to engage in private fund business. With a view to fulfilling the commitments made in the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue and the UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue on opening to foreign investment, the CSRC and AMAC issued the Questions and Answers Concerning Registration and Record Filing of Private Funds (10) on June 30, 2016, pursuant to which qualified foreign-invested private securities investment fund managers may engage in private securities investment fund management business without being subject to the restrictions on a foreign investment percentage. Combined with China's policy direction of attracting foreign investors and the further maturity of the Chinese regulators' oversight of private funds, it is possible that an increasing number of foreign investors will participate in domestic private funds in future, so as to reap massive funds from China and seize unprecedented market opportunities, particularly in sectors not subject to foreign access restrictions, e.g. advanced manufacturing, hi-tech industry, consumer goods and new retail industry. More specifically, one can look at both the position and negative impacts of the relaxation of foreign access on private equity acquisitions:

POSITIVE IMPACTS

Broadening of the financing channels available to Chinese enterprises: foreign PE firms can, with their massive financing resources broaden the financing channels available to Chinese enterprises, enhance Chinese enterprises' M&A capabilities and reduce their financial risks. Despite the fact that the financing channels available to Chinese enterprises making overseas investments have shown a trend toward greater diversity, close to 80% of Chinese enterprises presently find themselves with insufficient capital. With respect to cross-border M&A activities that require relatively abundant financial resources, an enterprise can take advantage of the capital owned by, and the financing channel advantages of, foreign PE funds to reduce their funding pressures and more easily secure bank financing, or even go in for a leveraged buyout and thereby increase the investment return rate. For science and technology enterprises, the combination of foreign PE firms and hi-tech achievements is conducive to promoting industrial application of science and technology achievements in China and increasing the technical content of economic growth in China.

Accelerating competition and providing talent support for PE development in China. A survey by The Economist reveals that 82% of senior executives of Chinese enterprises believe that a lack of outbound investment experience and management skills are the greatest challenges that Chinese companies face when making acquisitions. Foreign PE firms have extensive M&A integration experience and talent pools, and their business extension in China will bring new ideas and expertise to the Chinese PE investment market. Chinese enterprises will be able to learn from their M&A integration experience and operating and management capabilities, and, by combining that with the M&A integration expertise learned at their own growth and development stages, they will be able to robustly improve the governance structures and financial structures of Chinese companies, promote the quality of equity acquisitions and restructurings, and enhance enterprises' competitiveness. Additionally, they will be able to recruit management talent through the information networks of foreign PE funds.

NEGATIVE IMPACTS

Increasing the repayment risk of acquired enterprises: as one of the conditions for a PE fund to obtain high returns is that it can secure a relatively high rate of leveraged financing at a relatively low cost, large foreign PE funds favor leveraged financing of high debt ratios, thus requiring the acquired enterprise to bear high interest. This not only affects the acquired enterprise's effectiveness, but also greatly increases the possibility of loan default or, even more serious, may result in a downgrading of its creditworthiness, thereby making it impossible for the acquiring party to realize its objective in making the acquisition. Furthermore, in a leveraged financing process, the loan term is relatively long, the participants numerous and the transaction structure complex and, at times, bonds and other such financial derivatives may be used, thus, when there is a default on the debt, it becomes very difficult to determine who should bear the loss.

Drop in the quality of the acquired enterprise: once a foreign PE firm becomes the owner of an acquired company, it usually does not devote a lot of attention to the enterprise's growth, instead improving the company's book value and profits through financial operations or further acquisition, restructuring, layoffs, etc., in order to achieve excellent financial statements, while seeing no substantive improvement in the quality of the company. Furthermore, a large foreign PE firm may also hollow out the acquired company by distributing dividends, and its use of a leveraged buyout will usually cause the dividends obtained to far exceed the costs expended, while the quality of the Chinese company drops as a consequence of the entry of the foreign PE firm.

4 . WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST SECTORS ATTRACTING VENTURE CAPITAL INVESTORS? WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES FACED BY STARTUPS IN OBTAINING FUNDING?

Currently, in the PE investment industry, electronic, telecommunication and internet businesses are highly favored by venture capital investors, but few in these industries involve cutting edge high-tech development, or the commercialization of scientific and technological achievements, in industry or manufacturing.

As PE investments are usually long-term, technical, give high returns and involve high risk, investee enterprises require a relatively long incubation period before divestment and realization of investment returns is achieved through value mining and enhancement. Startups, particularly science and technology enterprises in the startup phase, face a serious funding shortage, and the enterprise and market incubation periods are also relatively long, but the term of PE financing is overly short, and investors' objective of realizing a quick profit make it difficult for startups to adapt, tending to create relatively serious business pressures on, and operating risks for, startups. In contrast to the investment terms of eight to 10 years of foreign PE firms, the term of Chinese PE funds is commonly three to five years, so, as many funds are starting to plan the method of divestment about three years after establishment, the selection of investment targets tends to favor businesses that will provide quick cash flow returns and whose growth periods are short, making it difficult for PE to fully implement the idea of value investment and to provide solid support for the transformation of hi-tech achievements.

5 . ARE THERE ANY TAX CONCERNS ON PE & VC DEALS THAT LAWYERS SHOULD BE AWARE OF?

When carrying out PE or VC deals, lawyers should pay particular attention to the following tax issues:

Tax implications of PE and VC: as Chinese tax policies in respect of PE/VC funds and their partners still contain flaws and are not so stable, the room for tax planning is relatively more flexible, but the problems associated with a lack of or inappropriate tax planning are more prominent.

At the beginning of 2017, a certain well-known Chinese PE firm was penalized by a local tax authority for failing to recognize carried interest as “finance and insurance industry” income and carry out value-added tax filing. With this, the risk that the carried interest of the general partner of a PE/VC fund could be deemed service income and be subject to an additional tax burden began to really draw the attention of the industry. So, carefully designing the fund structure and carrying out tax planning at the early stage of a fund would seem to be particularly important.

One important factor in tax implications is reducing the risk of double taxation.

For institutional investors, the possibility of double taxation exists regardless of whether a fund takes the form of a partnership or a company. Firstly, with respect to project divestment yields, an institutional investor serving as limited partner is required to pay enterprise income tax on the value-added portion of its investment principal obtained from the partnership (for a fund organized as a company, enterprise income tax is paid directly at the fund level on the premium from disposing of the equity), and when the investors make a distribution to their natural person shareholders, they are required to pay individual income tax. Secondly, with respect to the dividends obtained from an investee enterprise, if the same are distributed to institutional investors by a fund organized as a partnership, whether the same constitute tax-exempt dividend income between tax-resident enterprises under Article 26 of the PRC Enterprise Income Tax Law (the EIT Law) is a question still subject to some debate in practice. If the payment of enterprise income tax is required at the institutional investor level, this will give rise to a double taxation issue (with respect to such income, funds organized in the form of companies have the opportunity to avoid double taxation by virtue of the above-mentioned Article 26 of the EIT Law). However, where the main source of income of a fund is the income derived from the disposal of its investment portfolio, the actual difference between institutional investors in a fund organized as a partnership or a fund organized as a company is not significant.

For individual investors (including the management team of a PE/VC firm and fund investors), the selection of the organizational form and the structural design of a fund are particularly important. As there are no similar tax exemption provisions for fund derived equity income obtained by individual investors, regardless of whether income tax is levied on a lower level entity, individual income tax is still payable at the rate of 20% or higher at the individual investor level. As a result, as compared to a fund organized as a company, for individual investors and other limited partners of organizations mainly composed of individual investors (such as a fund of funds organized as a limited partnership), a fund organized as a limited partnership provides greater tax planning room, although not without certain challenges.

In 2016, after the comprehensive launch of the business tax to value-added tax (VAT) pilot project, the financial industry was brought under the umbrella of this pilot project. Due to differences in its investment targets, a PE fund could be required to pay value-added tax due to the occurrence of VAT taxable acts (e.g. bond interest income or financial instrument transfer income arising from the trading of stocks or bonds). Of such funds, because contractual-type funds themselves do not have legal personality and do not carry out tax registration, the question of how in practice they are to pay VAT in respect of their VAT taxable acts has consistently hung over them. Both the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation have issued documents stating that, for asset management products (including contractual-type funds), the asset management product manager is the VAT taxpayer in respect of the VAT taxable acts occurring in the course of the product's operations, and from January 1, 2018, it is to pay VAT based on the simplified tax method provisionally at the rate of 3%. For PE/VC funds, they may, in addition to the contractual type, be organized in the form of a partnership or company. Against a background of such different organizational forms, the employment of PE/VC organized as partnerships or companies could cause relevant asset management products to themselves constitute independent tax paying entities and the VAT rules applicable to them (i.e. a tax rate of 6%) were clarified at the outset of the comprehensive business tax to VAT pilot project in 2016. Thus, such issues as whether PE/VC funds organized as partnerships or companies are required to pay VAT at the original applicable rate or by the simplified tax method at the rate of 3% and the scope of application of referential policies are still in need of further clarification.

Tax treatment of foreign-invested limited partnerships: against a background where the tax system governing partnerships still requires further improvement, foreign partners in foreign-invested limited partnerships face a more complex tax environment. One perspective in practical circles holds that the 10% withholding income tax on dividends distributed by a foreign-invested enterprise organized as a limited liability company to its foreign shareholders should likewise apply to the dividend income distributed by a foreign-invested limited partnership to its foreign partners, including the carried interest given to the foreign general partner. Pursuant to the tax agreement or tax arrangement between China and the jurisdiction where the foreign partner is established, withholding income tax can be reduced to 5% where certain conditions are met. However, where a foreign partner is deemed to have a taxable establishment in China, it is required to pay enterprise income tax at the rate of 25% on relevant income. However, due to the lack of a uniform tax policy, how a foreign partner of a foreign-invested limited partnership is to pay Chinese income tax remains a question requiring further clarification. Tax practice also varies among local tax authorities in different places, with examples of income tax levied at rates of 5 to 10% and 25% existing.

Xiangyang Yi, Partner

Jingtian & Gongcheng

Xiangyang Yi is a partner at Jingtian & Gongcheng. With an LLM degree from Chicago-Kent Law School, an MBA degree from California University, a Master's degree in Procedural Law from Xiangtan University and more than 23 years of experience in law practicing, Mr Yi possesses solid knowledge in legal theories and enormous practicing experience, especially in securities law. He has an excellent reputation in the legal field. In 2017, he was awarded as one of the “Leading Lawyers for Foreign-related Matters in Guangdong”, and in 2018, he was awarded as a “Lawyer of Clients' Choice” by ALB China.

Mr Yi's main practice areas include IPOs in both domestic and overseas stock exchange markets, merger and acquisition, asset reorganization, VC/PE, enterprise restructuring, bankruptcy and liquidation, IP rights protection and dispute resolution, etc.

He has provided comprehensive and specialized legal services to numerous companies and projects, including: Huawei, Shenzhen Gas, Shenzhen SEG Group, HNA Group, Jiangxi Travel Group, the BGI, China Resources Holdings, China Huarong Asset Management Co., Ltd., Overseas Chinese Town, Yantian Port Group, China Mobile, Huaxia Petroleum, the CICC, Agile Property, Tridonic Gmbh & Co KG, Lamborghini China, Southern Media Group, Hunan Broadcasting and Television Group, and China Canyou Group, etc.

Mr Yi serves in the following social associations:

• Vice Director of the 11th Securities Association of Guangdong Lawyers Association
• Executive Member of the Guangdong Financial Law Association
• Executive Member of the Civil and Commerce Law Research Association of the Guangdong Law Association
• Part-time Professor of the Law School in South China Normal University

1 . 中国私募股权投资者或风险投资者中的最新趋势是什么？

现阶段PE/VC投资者的最新趋势主要集中在医疗、养老、健康、新技术、高科技、高端制造业等技术型企业和行业中，其中2018 年二季度最为突出的行业有：

人工智能

中国人脸识别技术公司商汤科技 (Sensetime) 在二季度获两轮融资共计12亿美元，成为目前全球最具价值的人工智能公司。

中国于2017年发布《新一代人工智能发展规划》，提出 “到2030年人工智能理论、技术与应用总体达到世界领先水平，成为世界主要人工智能创新中心” 的战略目标。

同时参考发审委对人工智能企业的过会情况，截至2018年8月，2017年至今人工智能企业发审会过会率80%，如以新一届发审委上任时间划分，上任前过会率66.67%，上任后过会率100%。

大发审委后过会率不降反升，表明了符合国家智能制造战略的人工智能概念板块有望继续得到相关制度支持，集中国制造2025、工业4.0、智能制造等概念于一身的人工智能行业受到资本市场和证监会审核的一致认可。

预计三季度，全球人工智能与数据分析领域投资将继续保持增长。

自动驾驶+电动汽车+出行共享

二季度，美国电动汽车制造商Faraday Future重启最新一轮融资，并继第一季度的15亿美元融资后再次获得20亿美元融资。这一巨额融资凸显出资本对电动汽车与自动驾驶技术高涨的热情。

自动驾驶并非一项单一技术，而是与电动汽车技术、出行共享模式紧密联系在一起，以构建出未来的出行市场生态，这也将带动整个生态体系的投资。

传统汽车制造商除了自身加大相关技术的开发，也加大了对创业公司的投资与合作力度。

软银集团这样的大型投资者同样在进行大量布局，并投注了该领域的多家公司：Uber、滴滴出行、Grab与Ola。而被投资的这些公司在未来的竞争与合作也将成为一个长期主题。

农业科技

随着精准农业、智能农业的崛起，农业正在接受来自物联网、无人机、人工智能、区块链等新技术的洗礼，并实现从土壤管理、天气监测到供应链溯源、预测分析带来的收益增长。

2017年，农业科技领域投资曾创下历史记录。本年度前5个月，该领域已经有105起投资事件，投资总额超过6亿美元。包括昆虫蛋白质生产商AgriProtein (1.07 亿美元)、农业无人机服务平台PrecisionHawk (7500 万美元) 和农作物生物技术公司Cibus (7000 万美元)。

2 . 就交易结构而言，私募股权交易通常以什么方式进行融资？

目前国内PE/VC主要有三种交易架构：公司制、合伙制和信托制，其中有限合伙制是采用最多的交易模式。

公司制

公司制基金的投资者作为股东参与基金的投资，以其出资为限对公司债务承担有限责任。基金管理人的存在可有两种形式：一种是以公司常设的董事身份作为公司高级管理人员直接参与公司投资管理; 另一种是以外部管理公司的身份接受基金委托进行投资管理。公司制基金的特点：需要缴纳企业所得税; 股份可以上市; 投资收益可以留存继续投资; 企业所得税之外投资者需要缴纳个人所得税，涉及双重征税。

有限合伙制

基金一般采用有限合伙形式作为合伙人参与投资，依法享有合伙企业财产权。其中的普通合伙人代表基金对外行使民事权利，并对基金债务承担无限连带责任。其他投资者作为有限合伙人以其认缴的出资额为限对基金债务承担连带责任。从国际行业实践来看，基金管理人一般不作为普通合伙人，而是接受普通合伙人的委托对基金投资进行管理，但两者一般具有关联关系。国内目前的实践则一般是基金管理人担任普通合伙人。有限合伙制特点：普通合伙人(GP)与有限合伙人(LP)共同组成有限合伙企业，其中私募股权投资公司作为GP，发起设立有限合伙企业，并认缴少部分出资，而LP则认缴基金出资的绝大部分。GP承担无限责任，负责基金的投资、运营和管理，并每年提取基金总额的一定比例作为基金管理费; LP承担有限责任，不参与公司管理，分享合伙收益，同时享有知情权、咨询权等。

信托制

基金由基金持有人作为委托人兼受益人出资设立信托，基金管理人依照基金信托合同作为受托人，以自己的名义为基金持有人的利益行使基金财产权，并承担相应的受托人责任。信托制特点：类似有限合伙，同样有免税地位; 但资金需要一步到位，使用效率低；涉及信托中间机构，增加基金的运作成本。

3 . 中国近期对外国投资更加开放，您认为这会对私募股权收购产生很大的影响吗？如果是的话，会如何产生影响？

在2016年之前，受限于《外商投资产业指导目录 (2015年修订)》 , 公募和私募证券投资基金管理人的外资比例均不超过49%的规定，境外机构没有在境内设立控股公司开展私募基金业务的合法途径。为兑现中美战略与经济对话及中英经济财金对话中关于对外开放的承诺，证监会、中基协于2016年6月 30 日发布《私募基金登记备案相关问题解答(十)》，符合条件的外资私募证券基金管理人，可以在中国境内开展私募证券投资基金管理业务，而不受外资比例的限制。结合中国对外资引入的政策导向以及中国监管机构对私募基金监管的进一步成熟，未来可能会见到越来越多的外资参与境内私募基金，以便获取中国庞大的资金，抓住历史性的市场机遇。尤其是在不受外资准入限制的领域，比如先进制造业、高新技术产业、消费品以及新零售业。具体来说可以从正反两方面看扩大外资准入对私募股权收购的影响：

正面影响：

一是可以拓宽中国企业的融资渠道。国际私募机构凭借其雄厚的资金实力可以拓宽中国企业融资渠道，提高中国企业并购能力，降低财务风险。尽管近年来我国企业进行海外投资的融资渠道呈现多元化趋势，但目前几乎80%的中国企业都存在本金不足的困境。对于资金消耗较大的跨国并购活动，企业可以借助国际私募股权基金所拥有的资本和融资渠道优势来减轻企业自身的资金压力且更易获得银行融资，甚至可以进行杠杆收购，进而提高投资回报率。对于科技型企业来说，国际私募机构与高科技成果的结合有利于促进中国科技成果产业化，提高中国经济增产的技术含量。

二是加速竞争，为国内私募股权发展提供人才支持。《经济学人》的调查显示：82%的中企高管认为，缺乏境外投资经验以及管理技能是中国公司收购面临的最大挑战。外国私募股权机构具有丰富的并购整合经验和人才储备，在中国境内的展业将为中国私募股权投资市场带来新的理念和经验，中国企业可学习其并购整合经验、经营管理能力，并将其与企业自身的成长、发展阶段学习得的并购整合经验相结合，能够有力改善中国公司治理结构和财务结构，促进股权并购重组质量，提高企业竞争力。同时也可以通过国际私募股权基金的信息网络物色优秀的管理人才。

负面影响：

一是加大被收购企业偿还风险。由于私募股权基金获得高收益的前提之一是能够以较低的成本获得较高比例的杠杆融资，所以外资大型私募股权基金更倾向于高负债比率的杠杆融资，被收购公司需要承担巨额的利息。这不仅会使被收购公司的效益受到影响，也会大大增加拖欠贷款的可能性，更为严重的是可能会引起被收购公司的信用能力下降，进而导致并购方的收购目标无法实现。另外，在杠杆融资的过程中，贷款的周期性较长，参与者众多，交易结构复杂，有时还会使用债券等金融衍生工具。因此，当债务拖欠发生时，谁是损失的承担者非常难以确定。

二是被收购企业质量下降。外国私募股权机构入主被收购公司后往往不是最关注企业自身的成长性，而通常是通过财务运作或再次进行收购兼并、重组、裁员等改变公司的账面价值及收益，从而获得优秀的财务报表，然而中国公司质量却可能并没有实质上的改善。另外，外资大型私募股权机构也可能通过发放股利的形式掏空被收购公司，且往往采用杠杆收购的手段，使其所获得的股利远高于其投入的成本，而中国公司的质量反而因外资私募股权机构的进入而下降。

4 . 哪些是最吸引风险投资者的行业？初创公司为取得资金面临哪些挑战？

目前，私募股权投资的行业中，电子电信、互联网等业态更受风险投资者青睐，而这部分行业较少涉及实业界、制造业的前沿高新技术开发及科技成果的商业化转化。

由于私募股权投资具有投资周期长、专业性强、高回报和高风险性等特征，被投企业需要较长的培育期，才能通过价值挖掘提升后退出实现投资回报。初创企业，尤其是处于初创阶段的科技型企业，资金短缺问题严重，企业及市场培育期也较长，私募股权融资周期过短，投资者短期的获利目标使初创企业期难以适应，容易给初创企业造成较大的经营压力和运营风险。与国际私募股权投资周期8-10年不同，中国私募股权基金的期限通常为3-5年，因此，很多基金在成立3年左右开始设计退出方式，投资标的的选择就会偏向于现金流回报快，成长周期短的业态，股权投资难以完全落实价值投资理念，无法对高新技术成果的转化形成有力支持。

5 . 私募股权和风险投资交易有没有一些律师应注意的税务问题？

在进行私募股权和风险投资交易时，律师应当重点关注以下税务问题：

一是私募股权和风险投资的税务考量问题。由于中国对PE/VC基金及其合伙人的税收政策尚不完善也不甚稳定，税务筹划的空间相对更灵活，而缺乏税务筹划或不当的税务筹划带来的弊端也就更加明显。

2017年初，中国某知名PE机构因其未将超额收益分成确认为 “金融保险业” 收入而进行增值税纳税申报被地方税务机关处罚, PE/VC基金普通合伙人的超额收益分成被视作服务性收入而被课征额外税负的风险开始真正引起行业关注。因此，在基金成立初期即谨慎设计基金架构和进行税务筹划显得尤为重要。

税务考量的一个重要因素是降低双重征收所得税的风险。

对于机构投资者而言，无论基金采用合伙形式或公司形式，都存在被双重征税的可能。首先，对于项目退出收益，作为有限合伙人的机构投资者需要就其从合伙企业取得的投资本金增值部分缴纳企业所得税 (公司制基金情况下，则直接在基金层面就处置股权的溢价缴纳企业所得税)，并在投资者向其自然人股东分配时，由该等自然人股东缴纳个人所得税。其次，对于从被投企业取得的股息红利，如果通过合伙制基金向机构投资者分配，是否属于《中华人民共和国企业所得税法》( 《企业所得税法》) 第二十六条下作为免税收入的居民企业之间的股息红利，目前实践中仍存在一定争议。如果在机构投资者层面需要缴纳企业所得税，则会产生双重征税的问题 (公司制基金对于这部分收入则因前述《企业所得税法》第二十六条的规定有机会避免被双重征税)。然而，在基金的主要收入来源是处置投资组合所得的情况下，无论合伙制基金还是公司制基金，对于机构投资者在双重征税方面的实质差别却不大。

对于个人投资者而言 (包括PE/VC机构的管理团队和基金投资人等)，基金组织形式的选择和架构设计显得尤为重要。由于就个人投资者获得的源于基金的权益性收入并无类似的免税规定，因此无论是否在下层实体被征收所得税，个人投资者层面仍需按照20%甚至更高的税率缴纳个人所得税。因此，相比于公司制基金，对个人投资者和其他主要由个人投资者组成的机构有限合伙人 (比如有限合伙形式的母基金) 来说，有限合伙型基金提供了更多 (但也可能有一定挑战性) 的税收筹划空间。

2016年中国全面推开营业税改征增值税试点后，金融业被纳入营改增范围。 因其投资标的不同，私募基金可能因发生增值税应税行为 (如债券利息收入和买卖股票、债券所产生的金融商品转让收入) 而需缴纳增值税。其中由于契约型基金本身为不具有法人资格且不进行税务登记，实践中其增值税应税行为该如何缴纳增值税一直存在疑问。财政部和国家税务总局先后发文明确， 资管产品 (包括契约型基金) 运营过程中发生的增值税应税行为，以资管产品管理人为增值税纳税人，自2018年1月1日起暂按照3%税率的简易计税法缴纳增值税。对PE/VC基金而言，其组织形式除契约型外，还包括合伙制和公司制。在差异化的组织形式背景下，合伙制、公司制PE/VC的应用可能会使得相关资管产品本身已经构成独立的纳税主体，其增值税适用规则 (即6%的税率)在 2016 年全面营改增之初就得以明确，因此合伙制、公司制PE/VC基金是按照其原有的适用税率还是按照3%税率的简易计税方法缴纳增值税以及优惠政策的适用范围等问题仍有待进一步明确。

二是外商投资有限合伙企业的税务处理问题。在合伙企业的税制尚待完善的背景下，外商投资有限合伙企业的外方合伙人需要面对更为复杂的税务环境。实务界的一种观点认为，适用于有限责任公司形式的外商投资企业向其外国股东分配股息红利的10%预提所得税，应该同样适用外商投资有限合伙企业分配给其外国合伙人的股息红利收入，包括给外国普通合伙人的超额收益分配 (carried interest)。根据中国和境外合伙人成立地法域之间的税收协定或税收安排，预提所得税在满足特定条件时可被降低为5%。然而，如果境外合伙人被认为在中国有应税机构、场所，则应就相关所得缴纳25%的企业所得税。但由于缺乏统一的税收征管政策，外商投资有限合伙企业的外方合伙人如何缴纳中国所得税仍是一个尚待明确的问题，不同地方税务机关的征管实践也存在差异，按5%-10%和按25%征收所得税的征管案例均有出现。

易湘洋 合伙人

竞天公诚律师事务所

易湘洋律师，系北京市竞天公诚律师事务所合伙人，美国芝加哥肯特法学院法律硕士，美国加州大学工商管理硕士，湘潭大学诉讼法学硕士，具有深厚的法学理论功底和丰富的证券法律事务执业经验，从业逾23年。他在业内享有极高声誉，2017年被评为“广东省涉外律师领军人才”，2018 年被评为“2018 ALB China客户首选律师”。

易律师的主要业务领域包括公司境内外发行上市、收购兼并、资产重组、VC/PE投资、企业改制、破产与清算、知识产权保护、诉讼与仲裁等。

他为多家公司及项目提供综合及专项法律服务，主要包括：中国华为、深圳燃气、深圳赛格、海航集团、江西国旅、华大基因、华润集团、华融资产、华侨城集团、盐田港集团、中国移动、华夏石油、中国国际金融公司、雅居乐地产、锐高照明电子（奥地利）、兰博基尼（中国）公司、南方广电集团、湖南广电集团、中国残友集团等。

易律师担任的社会兼职主要如下：

• 广东省律协证券法律专业委员会副主任
• 广东省金融法学会理事
• 广东省法学会民商法学研究会常务理事
• 华南师范大学律师学院教授、研究生导师