M&A deals in Belt & Road economies increase by 81%

China's overseas mergers and acquisitions in economies related to the Belt and Road Initiative achieved a record high of $48.2 billion in 2017, up 81 percent year-on-year, according to an EY report issued on Wednesday.

Investments in B&R economies increased despite an overall drop in Chinese outbound direct investment last year by 32 percent from the previous year, in the context of the complex global investment environment and tightened domestic regulation on cross-border investment.

Last year, Chinese companies made nonfinancial outbound direct investment of $14.4 billion in 59 economies related to the Belt and Road Initiative, accounting for 12 percent of total nonfinancial ODI, according to the report.