Du Liang, Director of the China Entrepreneur Research Institute, said in Frankfurt that from January to July this year, overseas investment by Chinese companies reached USD42.2 billion, a 52.8% growth year-on-year. The latest Ministry of Commerce figures showed that Chinese investors have expanded their businesses into 2,407 companies in 117 countries and regions worldwide from January to July, as total outbound direct investment (ODI) – excluding  finance – hit USD42.2 billion during this period. During the first half of the year, there were 117 merger and acquisition (M&A) deals conducted by Chinese investors overseas, worth a total of USD30 billion. The Institute also compiled a top 50 list of the most internationally ambitious Chinese enterprises, according to their overseas strategies, corporate governance provision, supply chains, capital flows, brands, R&D, social responsibility activities, and profits. The top five were Lenovo Group, Huawei, Haier Group, CNOOC and Sinopec Group. The Institute found that the most common sectors involving overseas Chinese investment were energy and mineral mining, information technology, and household appliances, while the agriculture and medical sectors were highlighted as the least outward-looking. The Institute also unveiled China’s top 10 M&A deals during the January-August period, the biggest being CNOOC’s USD15.1-billion takeover of Canada’s Nexen in August, the China Daily reports.