– This is the script of CNBC's news report for China's CCTV on July 15, Friday.
Welcome to CNBC Business Daily, I'm Qian Chen.
In the first half of 2016, global M&A activities are cooling down but China is bucking the trend.
Total US and European M&A was down 27 per cent and 18 per cent respectively on the same period in 2015. Even voracious demand from Chinese buyers was not enough to increase cross-border dealmaking in Asia, where the total value of transactions plummeted 27 per cent.
However, if we take a look at China. Chinese companies agreed to $121.1bn in cross-border deals between January and June, according to data from Thomson Reuters, smashing the country's all-time record for full-year outbound M&A, which was set at $111.5bn in 2015.
In this chart, you can see China's outbound M&A activities - where the money is going to. The trand shows more Chinese companies are buying American and European companies instead of Asian targeted companies.
Some big news in the first half year - China National Chemical Corp's $43 billion bid for Swiss agrichemicals maker Syngenta makes up almost 40 percent of this year's $111.6 billion total, but even without that deal the pace has quickened.
Other big purchases announced by China Inc this year include HNA Group's $6.3 billion acquisition of Ingram Micro Inc and Haier Group's $5.4 billion bid for General Electric Co's appliances unit.
Chinese state-owned and private companies are also looking to upgrade their manufacturing prowess with overseas technology.
China's appetite for overseas acquisitions has already outgrown last year's record, as deal-hungry mainland buyers chase global assets such as real estate, chemicals and high-end technology.
Bankers and lawyers say there could, however, be some slowdown in the second half, as mainland buyers face heightened scrutiny at home and abroad.
CNBC's Qian Chen, reporting from Singapore.