Bloomberg citing Mr Brian Gu head of JPMorgan China M&A unit China should account for 8 to 9 percent of global mergers and acquisition activity this year, continuing close to its strong levels in 2009 and 2010.

He said Consolidation in the consumer retail, real estate, healthcare, and chemical and industrial sectors are likely to power China's domestic M&A this year. China's inbound and outbound M&A deals in 2010 amounted to USD 236 billion out of a global total of USD 2.8 trillion or a little more than 8%.

Mr Gu said "Amid an overall recovery in M&A activity globally, China has seen a sharp rise, taking advantage of the financial crisis and maintained a pretty large share in this rebounding market last year."

He said that "Overall China as a large component of global M&A activity, is here to stay."

Mr Gu said China will probably continue its performance in outbound M&A after chalking up a record USD 54 billion in 2010. He said that recent stumbles by Chinese firms seeking to acquire all or part of foreign companies, such as Huawei's attempt to acquire server technology firm 3Leaf and Xinmao Group's play for the Dutch cable maker Draka shouldn't cast a shadow on future outbound Chinese deals.

He added that "China has always regulated inbound M&A from a security perspective."

Mr Gu said "I don't think this changes the regulatory environment; it doesn't mean it's more stringent or looser. I think it does lay out a protocol that parties can actually point to as to the process by which they'll be evaluated."

JPMorgan handled the largest volume of cross-border Chinese M&A last year with a transaction volume of USD 11.1 billion or 10.6% of the market, according to Dealogic. Credit Suisse was a close second with USD 10.7 billion or 10.2%.

(Sourced from Bloomberg)