Chinese companies' overseas investments surging
Purchases of foreign companies surge this year, with mainland firms particularly active in the United States, Europe and Canada
Chinese companies are increasingly pursuing opportunities in higher value-added industries such as manufacturing, vehicles, IT and telecommunications.
As such, they are now more active in advanced economies such as the United States, Canada and Europe, which offer higher-value investments, said David Blumental, a Hong Kong-based partner at US law firm Latham & Watkins.
During the first quarter of this year, Chinese investment in Europe reached US$7.2 billion, exceeding the US$5.5 billion of Chinese investment in Europe for the whole of last year, according to Mergermarket, an international publisher of information on mergers and acquisitions.
Investment flows bring benefits for Americans, including job creation
Chinese investments in Europe in the first quarter outpaced US$5.5 billion of US investments there, according to Mergermarket.
China accounted for 11.6 per cent of total investments in Europe in the quarter, a big jump from 2.9 per cent last year.
Agriculture was the most targeted sector by Chinese investors, led by Cofco's US$2.9 billion acquisition of 51 per cent of Netherlands-based Nidera, said Mergermarket.
In America, Chinese firms spent US$1.36 billion on 26 deals in the quarter, with the number of acquisitions reaching an all-time quarterly high, according to a report by Rhodium Group, a US consultancy.
The US industries attracting the most Chinese investment were health care, real estate and IT. The biggest Chinese deal in the US during the first quarter was the US$290 million acquisition by Chinese medical device firm MicroPort Scientific of Wright Medical Group's OrthoRecon business.