Asia remains top overseas M&A destination for Chinese enterprises in 2022: EY

This aerial photo taken on Dec. 10, 2022 shows a view of the Yangpu bonded harbor under the Yangpu Economic Development Zone, south China's Hainan Province. (Xinhua/Pu Xiaoxu)

Asia remained the most popular overseas merger and acquisition (M&A) destination for Chinese enterprises in 2022, according to a report on China's outbound investment in 2022 released by the consulting firm Ernst & Young (EY) on Thursday.

The report says in 2022, the M&A value in Asia announced by Chinese enterprises was 10.75 billion U.S. dollars, down 61 percent year on year and accounting for 37 percent of the total overseas M&A amount.

The number of M&A deals in Asia announced reached 171, showing a year-on-year increase of 4 percent and accounting for 34 percent of the total.

Four of the top ten M&A destinations most favored by Chinese enterprises in 2022 were from Asia, including Singapore, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Indonesia. The combined M&A value in the four countries accounted for nearly 80 percent of the total M&A value in Asia.

Technology, media, and telecom (TMT), real estate, hotel, consturction and consumer goods were the top sectors for investment by Chinese enterprises in Asia, with combined investment value accounting for 66 percent of the total in the continent.

In 2023, with optimized epidemic control measures and a recovering Chinese economy, Chinese enterprises' cross-border investment is expected to remain stable, said Loletta Chow, head of EY Global China Overseas Investment Network.