BEIJING, March 4 -- China's entrepreneurial boom drew nearly half of the investment the world's venture capital and private equity funds made last year, according to a report.

Investment in Chinese companies reached 192.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2015, or 48 percent of the world's total, according to a report released on Thursday by PwC.

This represents a 169-percent rise from a year ago in China, compared with a modest 18-percent increase worldwide.

Chinese companies in tech and consumer-related sectors raised a total of 76.8 billion dollars, six times as much from a year before.

Investors are looking to take advantage of China's start-up boom against the backdrop of a global economic slowdown, the report said.

It also found that initial public offerings (IPOs) on the Chinese stock market are the preferred choice over listing in the United Statesamong investors for exits, as China pressed ahead reforms of its IPO system toward a registration-based model to list more companies in emerging industries.

Investors are also seeking alternative channels to cash out their investments in addition to IPOs. Among options considered by investment funds is China's over-the-counter market, the National Equities Exchange and Quotations, where unlisted companies can transfer their shares.

PwC also added that China dominated the Asian PE/VC market, with fundraising in the past 10 years reaching 430 million dollars.