OREANDA-NEWS. December 17, 2013. During the first nine months of the year, Chinese outbound investment reached USD73 billion, up 20% compared with the same period last year, according to a report published by A Capital, an Euro-Asia private equity firm based in Beijing.

Chinese investment in North America hit USD 24.7 billion, up by almost 300% compared with last year. The hike is driven by one mega deal, CNOOC Ltd.'s USD 15.1 billion takeover of Canadian oil and gas company Nexen Inc.

Chinese investment in Europe dropped 25% to USD 5.8 billion.

State-owned enterprises dominate Chinese outbound investments, taking up 75% of all mergers and acquisition deals and 71% of all takeover transactions.

"Takeover deals are back in favor with 70% of deal value for the first nine months," says Andre Loesekrug-Pietri, founder of A CAPITAL. "Minority deals are down 40% in value mainly due to a lack of large deals.”

A Capital estimates that China's outbound investment will grow to match foreign direct investment in China in the next three years.