China sees 55% rise in M&A

Merger and acquisitions activity reached a record high in China last year, with the number of deals amounting to 6,899 and the total value surging to $407 billion, both of which went up by around 55 percent, according to the latest report released by PwC.

Technology, consumer-related and financial services were the most active sectors in terms of M&A, partly reflecting the development of the economy. Real estate remained the biggest sector by value.

Foreign-inbound strategic M&A also hit a record high in value, reaching nearly $25 billion and led by the increase in banking and financial services sectors.

The year 2014 was also a banner year for new investments by private equities, with the announced deal volume went up by 51 percent to reach a record high of 593 and the announced value surged 101 percent to reach $73.2 billion. It was also the year that PEs participated in State-owned enterprises' reform at scale.

PEs also looked for overseas businesses which have a strong China-angle in their growth strategies in 2014, with the outbound deal value reaching a record high of $14.3 billion.