China's market regulator clears 298 merger and acquisition cases in H1

 

(ECNS) -- China's market regulator completed antitrust reviews of 298 merger and acquisition cases in the first half of 2026, approving the vast majority without conditions, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) said Thursday.

Of the total, 283 transactions were approved unconditionally, while 12 applications were withdrawn, two were approved with restrictive conditions, and one was blocked.

Unconditionally approved cases involved total transaction value exceeding 2.23 trillion yuan ($329 billion), including 35 deals worth 10 billion yuan or more.

Manufacturing led the investment activity with 105 cases, accounting for 37.1% of the total. Other active sectors included utilities (32 cases), transport (25), finance (22) and real estate (21).

Horizontal mergers between competitors accounted for 182 cases (64.3%), while 120 cases involved vertical integration. Domestic companies accounted for 55.8% of the deals, with foreign firms involved in 41.3%.

Companies from about 30 countries and regions took part in the transactions. Japan, the United States, Singapore, the United Kingdom, South Korea and France were among the leading foreign participants. Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Zhejiang and Shandong were the top five regions for Chinese companies.