Chinese companies have become increasingly hungry for overseas assets. They have announced acquisitions worth $145 billion so far this year, dwarfing a full year tally in 2015 that was itself a record-setter.
Bankers say they have Xi Jinping, China’s president, to thank for many of these deals. The Chinese government’s commitment to One Belt, One Road is fuelling bids from infrastructure and industrial companies. A commitment to creating global tech champions is leading companies like Tencent to go on buying sprees.
But although this may explain some of the biggest Chinese outbound MA deals this year, it does not explain some of the most high...