Chinese outbound M&As hit record levels

BEIJING - China's outbound mergers and acquisitions (M&As) reached a record high in the first six months of 2011, with Asia and Europe being the top investment destinations, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said on Monday.

According to the PwC report, there were 107 outbound transactions amounting to a total of $9.6 billion in the first half of the year, up 14 percent year-on-year.

"Outbound M&A is expected to remain robust for the remainder of the year although global turbulence could affect some existing deals in the pipeline. Such a downturn, however, could present buying opportunities for cashed-up Chinese investors," said Ken Su, a Transaction Services Partner at PwC China.