The venture capital industry should focus on spurring economic growth amid the global economic downturn, economists said on Sept 17 at a forum in Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian province.

Economist Cheng Siwei said that venture capital is a vital force for starting up businesses and cultivating creativity, and it can also help launch new products and services, and support technological innovation to enhance labor productivity.

Cheng, who is the former vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, said that Fuzhou should take advantage of its location to boost exchanges between cross-Straits venture capitalists to put together capital and talent.

The 2012 Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Forum, which was co-organized by the Fuzhou government and the New Huadu Business School, aims to analyze current complex and volatile international and domestic economic and financial situations, and discuss new thoughts for global entrepreneurship and venture capital development strategies.

The two-day event was attended by about 600 scholars focusing on finance, and by investors and executives from around the world.

Fuzhou, on the west side of the Taiwan Straits, aims to become a hub for investment and entrepreneurship, said Yang Yue, the Party chief of Fuzhou, in his speech at the forum.

The venture capital industry emerged as early as 2000 in Fuzhou.

And following a 2008 State Council report that contained opinions on establishing venture investment funds, many big venture capital companies in the country began to set up branch offices in Fuzhou.

In 2009, the launch of China's Growth Enterprise Market further stimulated the venture capital industry. With investor confidence on the rise, the total assets of Fuzhou's venture capital companies were up to hundreds of millions of yuan by the end of 2010.