Last one to China is a rotten egg

Silicon Valley folks are flocking to China like never before. In Beijing and Shanghai, I kept running into Bay area captitalists and entrepreneurs who excitedly told me about ventures they'd just started and how it "meets a critical need in the market" or "fills a void."

Starting tomorrow, IBM's Venture Capital Group is hosting the Innovation Forum in Shanghai to discuss trends in semiconductors, software and open standards, telecommunications and financial services. About 150 venture capitalists and local startups -- including prominent VCs from the Valley -- are coming.

Mayfield, Hummer Winblad, Walden and other VCs are sending folks from the Bay area to Shanghai for the event.

IBM's Venture Capital Group now partners with all 20 of the big VCs working in China. Its revenue in China saw double-digit growth in 2004. Linux licenses are up 80 percent.