Aust China's top market for investment: report

Australia has been cemented as China’s top market for business transactions, with 32 deals being done since 2011, worth a total of $US11 billion, research released today says.

Global law practice Squire Sanders’ China Outbound M&A trends report showed 30 per cent of Chinese transactions and 70 per cent of Chinese deal value were targeted on the energy and resources sector.

The survey is an analysis of merger and acquisition activity in 2011 and the first half of 2012, showing the dramatic rise of China as a global investor.

Chinese offshore M&A activity has increased nearly five-fold in value since 2005, with the number of transactions tripling in that time.

 “Energy security, for the world’s biggest energy consumer, has been the key issue,” Squire Sanders global head of energy and resources Duncan Maclean said.

“With the biggest driver of M&A activity being the need to secure raw material supply lines to support industrial production and the development of infrastructure.

“Inevitably, from an energy and resources perspective, it’s not surprising that Australia and Canada have been the two most important countries for Chinese acquisitions.”