China investment banking M&A value falls 10% to $274b

Announced transactions climbed 18.1% and reached their highest first-three-quarter count since 2021.

China-related mergers and acquisitions (M&A) totalled $274.0b in the first three quarters of 2026, down 10.0% from a year earlier, largely due to fewer megadeals.

Despite the decline in deal value, the number of announced transactions rose 18.1% year-on-year, marking the highest first three-quarter deal count since 2021, according to LSEG’s China Investment Banking Review.

M&A transactions targeting Chinese companies reached $249.8b, down 9.4% from the previous year.

Domestic M&A declined 10.6% to $235.8b, whilst inbound M&A increased 17.4% to $14.0b.

Outbound M&A also grew, rising 2.2% from a year earlier to $17.9b.

High technology was the most active sector, accounting for 24.9% of China-related M&A value at $68.1b, up 69.6% year-on-year.

Financials ranked second with $63.0b in transactions, representing 23.0% of the market, followed by industrials at $44.7b, or 16.3%.

Materials accounted for $39.7b in deal value, representing a 14.5% market share, up 6.2% year-on-year.

Other sectors included energy and power at $16.1b, healthcare at $14.5b, consumer products and services at $8.7b, and consumer staples at $6.6b.

Goldman Sachs led the investment banking financial adviser rankings for announced China-related M&A transactions, advising on $49.2b worth of deals and capturing an 18.0% market share.