ISLAMIC PRIVATE EQUITY AND VENTURE CAPITAL INVESTMENTS: A WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE CHINESE MARKET

The recent surge of the oil prices, the post 9/11 effects on the world political and economical landscapes and the aggressive growth of the emerging Chinese economy pushed the Muslim investors to think of an alternative destination for their growing capital; The Greater China. There is a promising opportunity for an investment flow from the Middle East to China, but there are many obstacles can slow down this flow, and the major one is the absence of any Islamic investment products to cater for the Islamic institutional investors as well
as the HNWI. Most of the Muslims prefer to invest in an Islamic-compliant manner which differs from the conventional investment strategies and products.
This research finds that, a result to the religious constrains, direct investing and private equity investing are the most desired forms of investments for the Muslim
investors due to the flexibility and degree of investors’ involvement in the investment portfolio. Therefore, this research explores the Private Equities and Venture Capital markets in China and introduces models for developing Islamic Private Equity and Venture Capital funds which can cater to both Muslim and conventional investors in any non-Muslim country and will help China to attract more capital from the oil rich Muslim countries.