Mainland companies bullish on M&A in 1st quarter

Chinese companies' appetite for investing overseas and diversifying their business has not been impaired, but rather encouraged, despite the economic slowdown and volatile international market.

The latest Thomson Reuters data show that China's outbound cross-border merger and acquisition activity hit a record high of $101.1 billion in the first quarter. That accounts for one-sixth of the global total during the same monitoring period and nearly surpasses China's full-year record of $109.5 billion, set last year.

The global total in the first quarter was $669 billion, down 14 percent year-on-year.