Takeover activity set to pick up this year

Chinese private equity and venture capital-led merger and acquisition activities will be more active in 2017 after their deal value set a new record in 2016, according to a report issued on Thursday by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

"As the pressure to invest large sums of available funds increases, we expect an increase in M&A activities led by PE/VC," said Amanda Zhang, PwC's North China private equity group leader.

A total of $532 billion was raised in the Chinese private equity and venture capital market from 2006 to 2016, it showed.