Gabriel Caillaux, co-president of US private equity firm General Atlantic. [Photo/generalatlantic.com]

China remains a top investment destination, an executive from US private equity firm General Atlantic said.

China is "the most attractive" place to put money, particularly for faster-growing companies that are seeking new targets, Financial Times reported, quoting the firm's co-president Gabriel Caillaux.

General Atlantic, known for big bets on ByteDance and fast-fashion retailer Shein, entered the Chinese market in 2000. By June last year, the private equity company had invested $6.7 billion in China and had more than 34 portfolio companies in China, as well as offices in Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

"We still think China offers great opportunities," Caillaux said. "Our investors still want China exposure and we still think there's a great moneymaking opportunity there."

With its faster-than-expected economic growth, China continues to exert a powerful pull for foreign investment, providing boons to the global economy.

China's GDP grew 4.5 percent year-on-year to 28.5 trillion yuan ($4.14 trillion) in the first quarter, according to figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics. The growth outpaced last year's 3.0 percent and the 2.9 percent reported in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Earlier, some of the best-known international business tycoons revisited China and expressed their hopes of expanding business in the country, continuing to cast votes of confidence in the world's second-largest economy.

The latest data from the Ministry of Commerce shows that foreign direct investment in the Chinese mainland, in actual use, expanded 2.2 percent year-on-year to 499.46 billion yuan in the first four months of this year.