(Yicai Global) Sept. 13 -- Total assets managed by private equity funds in China hit CNY 10.2 trillion (USD1.56 trillion) as of the end of last month, financial daily STCN reported, citing private equity fund registration data published by the Asset Management Association of China (AMAC) yesterday. 

Some 20,700 private equity fund managers and 60,700 private equity funds were registered as of the end of August 2017. Their assets under management (AUM) totaled USD1.57 trillion, up USD40 billion from the month earlier, marking the first time that the Chinese private equity industry passed the CNY10 trillion mark. Private equity and venture fund managers were the main driving force behind the strong growth, making up about 62 percent of the total AUM.

It is worth noting that the total AUM of equity investment-oriented private equity funds shrank by CNY520 billion (USD79.6 billion) this year, in stark contrast to the CNY1.68 trillion (USD257 billion) increase in the private equity and venture capital markets.

Most of the registered private equity fund managers are based in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing, each city having approximately 4,000 managers.

The AMAC de-registered 12,500 private equity institutions due to regulatory violations, and another 2,146 institutions have been listed as "irregular businesses" as they failed to update registration information.