Investments by Chinese investors in overseas commercial and residential properties surged 53% from 2015 to a record USD33 billion last year, mainly boosted by insurers’ notable purchases, global real estate services provider Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) said. While investment in land, offices and hotels accounted for 90% of all Chinese outbound capital in the last three years, the hotel and industrial sectors posted the largest increase in 2016 due to significant transactions in the United States. One of the noteworthy deals last year involved Anbang Insurance buying Strategic Hotels and Resorts for over USD6 billion and China life Insurance’s portfolio purchase from Starwood Capital Group. “We do believe that Chinese investors will continue to be major movers of capital into global real estate for many years to come,” said David Green-Morgan, Director of Global Capital Markets Research at JLL. “But a similar increase in 2017 may be challenging given the recent discussion about China monitoring its capital outflows.” Chinese investors also returned to the land market last year, with land acquisitions rising 44% following deals in Hong Kong, Australia and Malaysia, JLL said.

China plans to launch its Chang’e-5 lunar probe from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province at the end of November. It will be carried into space on a Long March-5 rocket. Among the mission’s firsts will be China’s first automated moon surface sampling, first moon take-off, and first unmanned docking in a lunar orbit about 380,000 kilometers from earth, according to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp (CASC). “With a weight of 8.2 tons, the lunar probe is comprised of four parts: an orbiter, a returner, an ascender and a lander,” said Ye Peijian, one of China’s leading aerospace experts and a consultant to the program. The lander will put moon samples in a vessel in the ascender after the moon landing. Then the ascender will take off from the moon to dock with the orbiter and the returner orbiting the moon, and transfer the samples to the returner. The orbiter and returner then start to head back to earth, separating from each other when they are several thousands kilometers away. Plans to send astronauts to the moon were also being discussed, the Shanghai Daily reports.

The China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) announced a ban on insurers acquiring listed firms in concert with non-insurance parties, in a move to prevent risky stock investments. When insurance companies make major stock investment with non-insurer parties, they must use their own funds to make a purchase. A purchase of at least 20% of stock in a listed company by an insurer is considered a major investment. Insurance firms are not allowed to acquire listed companies or purchase a major stake before gaining regulatory approval. The CIRC ordered that an insurer’s investment in one single stock should not exceed 5% of its total assets at the end of the previous quarter. Meanwhile, an insurer’s total equity investment should be less than 30% of its total assets at the end of the previous quarter. The new rules came as some insurers used leveraged funds to buy shares of listed companies late last year.

China’s investment frenzy in initial public offerings (IPOs) is back, as a dearth of investable options in the country’s capital markets and excessive cheap money chase after the returns from first-day stocks trading. Of the 13 stocks that made their trading debuts last week in Shanghai and Shenzhen, every single one surged by their allowable 44% limit on the first day. “This is like gambling – very risky,” said Ken Wong, an Asia equity portfolio specialist at Eastspring Investments. “These investors are driven by momentum, rather than fundamentals.” The frenzy is a radical departure from last year, which had a slow start in IPOs following a 2015 market rout. The number of companies that sold stock last year rose to 227, from 219 in 2015, while the proceeds from the IPOs declined 6% to CNY150 billion. One in every five of last year’s IPOs, or 48 of them, hit the 44% price increase limit on their debut, and had their trading suspended in Shanghai and Shenzhen. Chinese regulators have repeatedly warned investors about the risks of chasing speculative returns in IPOs. The stock exchanges have also imposed rules to curb irrational buying, such as putting in daily trading limits and suspensions, the South China Morning Post reports.

Deutsche Bank analysts view investment in the stocks of the following companies as advisable in 2017: Hong Kong-listed Ping An Insurance, China Merchants Bank, Huatai Securities, PetroChina, Anhui Conch Cement, China State Construction International Holdings, AviChina Industry & Technology; Shenzhen-traded Gree Electric Appliances; and the American Depositary Receipts of NetEase and New Oriental Education & Technology Group. Credit Suisse analysts recommend the Hong Kong-listed shares of Anhui Conch Cement, Angang Steel, Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology, China Construction Bank, Ping An Insurance, Huatai Securities, China Resources Land, Guangzhou Automobile Group, China Mengniu Dairy Co, CSPC Pharmaceutical Group, Galaxy Entertainment, Cheung Kong Holdings, and CK Property. JP Morgan analysts’ selections include Ping An Insurance, Bank of China, Weichai Power, China Resources Land, Brilliance China, China Resources Beer, and CSPC Pharmaceuticals, the South China Morning Post reports.