China-related mergers and acquisitions started on a high note this year, driven by overseas buying spree by Chinese companies, industry data showed.

The value of M&A deals involving China reached a record high of US$189.7 billion so far this year — a 31.5 percent growth from the same period of last year, according to Thomson Reuters data as of Monday. Outbound acquisitions by Chinese companies reached an all-time high, with transactions worth US$97.8 billion, up 237.8 percent year-on-year, data showed.

The momentum was led by China National Chemical Corp, which in February agreed to purchase the entire stake of Swiss agrochemical and seed producer Syngenta AG in a deal worth US$46.8 billion, the largest-ever foreign acquisition by a Chinese firm.

The mega ChemChina-Syngenta deal pushed the value of Chinese overseas acquisitions in Europe up 262.8 percent from last year to US$53.9 billion so far this year.

In the US, China’s outbound M&As reached US$38.6 billion, at least four times of that in the full year of 2015.

In contrast, domestic M&A in China fell 8 percent in deal value to US$84.7 billion as the high technology, industrial, real estate and retail sectors continued to witness year-on-year increase while the rest of industries saw declines.

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