Overseas acquisitions by Chinese buyers are cooling after two record years but deals into China are on the rise, and new rules will make it easier for foreign buyers to tap China’s consumer potential. Inbound merger and acquisition (M&A) deals have already reached USD7.1 billion so far in 2017, almost double the amount in the same period of last year. They are well on track to beat the 2016 total of USD46 billion, while outbound deals tumbled more than 40% to USD8.4 billion, Thomson Reuters data showed. Deals in retail and consumer staples accounted for nearly half those transactions, far outpacing real estate and financial deals, which usually dominate inbound M&As. Belgian investment firm Verlinvest is ahead of the trend. It set up a USD300 million venture last year with Chinese state-owned conglomerate China Resources and has already deployed more than half of the funds, the Shanghai Daily reports. Verlinvest, which manages funds for the founding families of Anheuser-Busch Inbev, is investing in minority and majority stakes in leading Western brands so it can push them through China Resources’ distribution channels in China, said Nicholas Cator, who is responsible for the Asia business. “We’re going to be focusing on those high-growth sectors that are based on consumer trends, like health-related food and beverage products, health care, education, cinema or entertainment, or anything linked to any kind of cultural production and content,” he said. Verlinvest’s joint venture in December bought an undisclosed stake in Oatly, a Swedish maker of dairy-free products, and plans to expand it into China, and in November it bought a majority stake in Red Sun Enterprise, which owns senior care homes in Shanghai and Nanjing.