China recorded an all-time high number of mergers and acquisitions in May, of which 33 had unveiled capital involved, the investment researcher China Venture said on Saturday, yet failing to reveal the exact total number. The 33 cases involved 5.56 billion U.S. dollars in investment, a growth of 32.65 percent on the April level.

Of the total monthly mergers and acquisitions, 52.73 percent occurred in manufacturing and energy and mining sectors.

Growth rate in energy and mining M&A cases has exceeded 60 percent for three consecutive months.

Analysts attributed the impressive continuous growth to the fact that price hikes for energy and industrial raw materials drove up strategic value of energy and mining sectors.

(Xinhua News Agency June 15, 2008)