China rejects claims it blocks startup funds but foreign capital continues to exit Chinese data centers

• Meta’s $2 billion acquisition of AI startup Manus blocked by Chinese regulators citing national security, despite firm being Singapore-registered
• Princeton Digital Group, backed by Warburg Pincus, selling China data center portfolio valued up to $1 billion after decade of infrastructure investment
• Chinese officials deny formal restrictions on foreign funding while regulators use informal “window guidance” to discourage US capital into tech startups

• $2 billion Meta deal blocked by China regulators on national security grounds
• $1 billion Value of Princeton Digital Group China assets facing divestment
• 10 years Duration of foreign PE firms’ China digital infrastructure investment effort now ending

China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) issued a public statement on May 22 denying that the government has discouraged local technology companies from accepting foreign investment.

Li Chao, an NDRC official, declared that Beijing has never instructed Chinese IT firms to reject international capital and emphasized the government’s commitment to continued economic opening and foreign collaboration.

The statement directly contradicted reports that regulators had issued informal guidance, known as “window guidance” in Chinese regulatory practice, instructing domestic tech companies including ByteDance, Moonshot AI, and StepFun to obtain government approval before accepting US funding.

The disconnect between Beijing’s public position and documented regulatory behavior has left institutional investors operating in a fog of mixed signals about what cross-border transactions will actually be permitted.

Meta’s Manus Acquisition Blocked as China Broadens National Security Definition

In late April, Chinese regulators blocked Meta Platforms’ acquisition of Manus, a $2 billion AI startup, on national security grounds, even though Manus is formally registered in Singapore. The decision signals that Beijing views control over technology assets with mainland operations as a national security matter regardless of corporate domicile.

Manus now faces pressure to raise nearly $1 billion from external investors to reverse the takeover and comply with Beijing’s unstated requirements around foreign ownership thresholds in AI and data infrastructure.

The Manus case is particularly significant because it demonstrates how the NDRC, which officially oversees the Negative List for Market Access restrictions and monitors cross-border transactions, interprets its mandate. The commission stated that the deal posed “national security risks,” but provided no detailed definition of what threshold or technology category triggered the block.

This opacity has become the primary source of friction between foreign capital and Chinese regulators: investors cannot reliably model what degree of foreign ownership, control, or operational involvement will be acceptable in any given sector or company stage.

Li Chao acknowledged that foreign investment must comply with Chinese law and cannot jeopardize national security. However, he did not clarify the approval procedure or timeline that investors should expect when structuring deals.

This absence of clarity, between the government’s stated openness and the regulator’s actual decision-making standard, has become the defining constraint on capital flows into China’s technology sector.

Princeton Digital Group Liquidates $1 Billion Data Center Portfolio After Decade of Commitments

Major international private equity firms are rapidly exiting China’s digital infrastructure sector after a decade of sustained capital deployment. Princeton Digital Group, which is backed by Warburg Pincus, is placing its China data center portfolio up for sale in a transaction valued up to $1 billion.

The company operates data centers across six Chinese cities and represents a flagship investment by a top-tier global buyout firm in China’s cloud computing and infrastructure market.

The divestment by Princeton Digital reflects a broader retreat by leading PE names from China’s regulated infrastructure space. Firms including Bain Capital, Warburg Pincus, and The Carlyle Group had made substantial commitments to build or acquire data center assets as China’s cloud and artificial intelligence sectors expanded.

These were not speculative bets: they represented multi-year, multi-billion-dollar infrastructure strategies premised on stable regulatory treatment and the ability to operate digital assets with reasonable certainty about compliance requirements and return horizons.

The exodus from data centers is symptomatic of a broader pattern. Foreign PE investors are concluding that the political and regulatory environment has become too uncertain to justify maintaining operational control over critical digital infrastructure in China.

The timing, coinciding with tightened national security reviews under the NDRC, suggests that investors have reassessed the risk-return profile and determined that liquidation is preferable to holding illiquid, politically sensitive assets.

Window Guidance Creates Enforcement Risk Distinct From Official Policy

Chinese regulators have employed “window guidance”, informal, non-binding directives issued outside formal policy channels, to influence corporate behavior without issuing public rules. In this case, the NDRC reportedly instructed companies like ByteDance and AI startups Moonshot AI and StepFun to seek government approval before accepting US capital.

Window guidance sits in a legal gray zone: it carries no official force, yet companies that ignore it face de facto compliance pressure through regulatory scrutiny in other areas, licensing decisions, or operational permits.

For institutional investors accustomed to rule-based regulatory environments, window guidance presents an acute problem. It cannot be incorporated into legal due diligence or disclosed in prospectuses with confidence because the guidance lacks official status and may shift without public announcement.

A PE firm or growth equity investor evaluating a Chinese tech company cannot reliably determine whether accepting US funding will trigger informal pressure on the company to divest the stake, restructure ownership, or seek regulatory approval at an undefined future date.

The NDRC’s Negative List for Market Access formally restricts foreign investment in certain sectors, but it does not comprehensively cover AI, data infrastructure, or cloud computing in ways that would allow investors to model deal certainty.

Combined with window guidance and the Manus precedent, the cumulative effect is that foreign capital has lost confidence in the predictability of China’s investment approval process for technology assets.

Institutional Investors Face Decision Point on China Technology Exposure

The disparity between Beijing’s public statements and its regulatory actions is forcing institutional investors to recalibrate their China allocation strategies.

Li Chao’s May 22 statement reasserts the government’s commitment to openness, but it does not resolve the underlying uncertainty: investors still do not know what criteria the NDRC will apply to future deals, whether window guidance will be codified into formal policy, or what “national security” encompasses in practice.

For large asset managers, PE firms, and growth equity funds, the question is whether to continue deploying capital into Chinese tech companies with foreign funding rounds or to pivot capital to regions with more transparent approval processes.

The Manus block suggests that even late-stage, venture-backed AI companies with established governance and regulatory compliance are not insulated from cross-border scrutiny. Princeton Digital’s exit signals that even mature, profitable infrastructure assets do not provide sufficient certainty to justify holding China-domiciled digital assets under foreign control.

The key unresolved question is whether Beijing will clarify its national security approval criteria and commit to published timelines for deal review, or whether the NDRC will continue issuing guidance through informal channels while maintaining public rhetoric about openness.

Investors should monitor whether the NDRC issues formal clarifications to its Negative List or publishes explicit approval criteria for foreign investment in AI, data centers, or cloud infrastructure by mid-2025. Simultaneously, watch whether additional major PE firms announce data center or infrastructure divestitures, any sale by Bain Capital or The Carlyle Group would validate a broader institutional retreat and effectively mark the end of the foreign PE era in China’s digital infrastructure. Li Chao’s assurances will be tested by whether Chinese regulators approve a major US-backed funding round for a domestic AI or cloud startup within the next 12 months; silence or continued blocks would confirm that informal restrictions are in effect regardless of official messaging.

Original reporting: cryptopolitan.com