Mergers losing steam in China

China's deal-making spree has witnessed significant retraction from July to November, with a nearly 47 percent decline in merger and acquisition deals, a report from accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers said yesterday.

Only 543 M&A deals have been announced in this period despite a 14 percent growth in the first six months, when over 920 deals worth $46 billion were transacted.

The accounting firm said it expects the overall M&A activity in China to remain slow in the first half of 2009 before a pick-up in the second half as pricing expectations align.