(Yicai Global) July 11 -- Shanghai's Star Market was a new trending theme among the more than 470 Chinese funds that secured CNY479.3 billion (USD69.5 billion) in the first half of this year, a record since 2016. 

Each of the recently established 14 Star Market funds reached a ceiling of CNY1 billion, China Securities Journal reported today. 

Shanghai's bourse launched Star Market, formerly known as the Science and Technology Innovation Board, on June 13, aiming to make it easier for tech startups to secure funding. 

Despite the increased interest in tech stocks, most investors piled into traditional investment vehicles. The new 205 bond funds raised CNY293.7 billion, or 61 percent of the total. Their funding scale rose 56 percent from the previous year. Five of them exceeded the size of CNY10 billion each.

The newly launched 11 qualified domestic institutional investor funds garnered CNY4.3 billion, an increase of 51 percent. Meanwhile, the scale of hybrid funds dropped 37 percent to CNY125.4 billion, with a group of nearly 180. 

Not every fund was overcome with demand. More than 80 of them needed to extend their fundraising periods in order to reach a scale of CNY200 million (USD29.1 million), which did not save some of them from failing.

Editor: Emmi Laine