China's Outbound M&As Rise 50Pct: PwC

Outbound merger and acquisition deals by Chinese companies rose more than 50 percent in the first half from a year earlier.

Outbound merger and acquisition deals by Chinese companies rose more than 50 percent in the first half from a year earlier, according to a report released by PricewaterhouseCoopers on Monday.

The volume of outbound M&As is also on the rise. There were 99 M&A deals completed in the between January and June, the report said, with seven outbound deals exceeding 1 billion U.S. dollars in the first six months compared with just three a year ago.

Most of the deals were in natural resources. 14 of the 99 such deals in the first half were related to resources sector, the biggest of which was a takeover by Sinopec, valued at 4.7 billion U.S. dollars for a 9-percent stake in Canada’s Syncrude.

Australia is still identified as the main target destination, while Africa is attracting more and more investment from China these years.

"Although natural resources continue to be priority industry target for Chinese investors overseas, we are seeing other industries starting to get increased attention, including high technology, manufacturing and services," said Andrew Li, a partner as PwC.

Chinese investors are broadening their industry targets and regions to include the United States, Japan and the European Union, he said.