China surpassed North America in attracting venture capital for the first time in the second quarter, helped by a record USD14 billion fundraising round by Alibaba Group Holding affiliate Ant Financial Services. Start-ups in China accounted for 47% of the world’s VC funding in the three months ended June, compared with a combined 35% for the U.S. and Canada, according to a report by Crunchbase, which tracks and compiles fundraising data.

The surge in China fundraising in the second quarter could be attributed to Ant Financial, which raised about USD14 billion last month. Investors, including Singapore’s GIC and Temasek Holdings, Warburg Pincus, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Silver Lake, took part in the fundraising, while existing shareholders supported a yuan-denominated tranche. The financing brought Ant Financial’s valuation to more than USD150 billion, which is roughly double Uber Technologies’ valuation. Excluding Ant Financial, China’s start-ups raised just slightly more than they did in the first quarter, taking up 36% of the global total, according to Crunchbase.

China has seen a surge in the number of start-ups in recent years as the government vowed to do more to implement an innovation-driven development strategy to make the country more competitive and transform itself from the factory floor of the world into a global innovation powerhouse. Venture capitalists poured billions into areas from artificial intelligence to blockchain, lured by the prospect of backing the next Alibaba, Tencent Holdings or Baidu, while start-up founders aspired to become billionaires like Jack Ma or Pony Ma, the South China Morning Post reports.