Tighter national security reviews have curbed Chinese deal-making in the U.S., but a new study shows China is pouring money into cutting-edge American technologies at a record pace this year through loosely regulated venture capital investments.

Chinese foreign-direct investment into the U.S., made through deals such as acquisitions, fell into negative territory during the first five months of the year, according to data that takes asset sales into account from the Rhodium Group, a New York consulting firm.

Yet the figures belie China’s sustained interest in U.S. technology, which it is continuing to target through relatively unrestricted investments in startups in Silicon Valley and elsewhere, Rhodium said in a new report reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

The report’s findings could give fresh momentum to national security hawks who have singled out Chinese investment as posing disproportionate risks to the U.S. because the entities may be directed and subsidized by the government of China, an economic and military rival.

Over the period from January to May 2018, Chinese venture capital investment in the U.S. had already reached nearly $2.4 billion, which was its previous full-year record set in 2015, according to Rhodium’s analysis.