湯森路透的數據顯示，截至本周一，在68個正式加入“一帶一路”倡議的國家，中國公司的收購總金額已達到330億美元，超過2016年全年310億美元的水平。

“一帶一路”倡議由中國國家主席習近平于2013年提出，目的是建設現代“絲綢之路”，從路上和海上將中國、東南亞、巴基斯坦、中亞、中東以及歐洲和非洲連接起來。

在今年5月的一次峰會上，習近平主席承諾將為“一帶一路”投入1240億美元。但對于中國政府表露出的共創繁榮意愿，西方資本一直懷疑此舉更多的是為了確立中國的影響力。

湯森路透的數據同時表明，截至上周一，中國的整體對外并購規模比上年同期下降42%，而中國公司在“一帶一路”沿線的并購相關投資出現了大幅增長。

為保持人民幣匯率穩定，中國政府對資本外流加以限制。同時，為確保金融穩定，中國政府還對負債收購嚴加約束，從而加大了收購方爭取海外并購獲批的難度。

6月份以來監管部門一直在加大管控力度，它們不僅仔細審核并購協議，還要求一批貸款機構評估海航、萬達和復星等幾家公司大張旗鼓的海外收購所帶來的風險。

監管部門更嚴格地審核海外并購前，中國公司在2016年為購買海外資產投入了2200億美元資金，創歷史新高，而且它們的收購無所不包，既有電影制作公司，也有歐洲足球俱樂部。

但嚴格審核并未影響中國公司在“一帶一路”沿線追逐收購目標，原因是這被視為企業和中國經濟的戰略性投資。

律師事務所Herbert Smith Freehills合伙人、公司和商業律師希勒里·劉說：“對一帶一路國家投資時，人們采用的是長期思維模式。”

他認為：“這些收購還受到了政策推動。資金則是中國銀行以及政府基金為一帶一路并購劃撥出來的。”

湯森路透數據顯示，今年中國公司的“一帶一路”收購目標已有109個，而2015和2016年全年的收購交易數量分別為134個和175個。

審批程序

據律師和并購參與者介紹，“一帶一路”沿線并購項目的審批較為順利，原因是監管部門在審核對外投資時往往把它們單獨劃為一組。

一家中國公司的一位高級投資顧問稱，“如果做的是一帶一路項目”，在提交給監管部門的“文件里，第一句話就要點明”。這家中國公司已經多次并購海外企業。

“早早地指出這一點是明智之舉。”由于未獲得接收媒體采訪授權，這位顧問要求不透露其身份。

今年初以來，在“一帶一路”國家實施的最大并購是一中國財團斥資116億美元整體收購新加坡倉儲物流公司普洛斯。

其他規模較大的并購包括中石油以18億美元的價格買下阿布扎比一家石油公司8%的股權，以及海航斥資10億美元收購物流公司CWT Ltd，后一項并購尚未完成。

中國國家外匯管理局本月表示，仍鼓勵國內公司參與“一帶一路”活動。

受資本外流限制影響，海航至少已有兩筆海外收購遇到了障礙。該公司稱，計劃優先投資于“一帶一路”倡議囊括的行業和地區。

史密夫律師事務所律師希勒里·劉指出，“一帶一路”沿線收購主要集中在能源和基礎設施領域。

他說：“最近我們在印尼、馬來西亞和緬甸看到了許多并購活動。整個斯里蘭卡、印度和孟加拉走廊也是熱點地區，因為它連接著東方和西方。”（財富中文網）

譯者：Charlie

審稿：夏林

Chinese acquisitions in the 68 countries officially linked to President Xi Jinping's signature foreign policy totalled $33 billion as of Monday, surpassing the $31 billion tally for all of 2016, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Unveiled in 2013, the Belt and Road project is aimed at building a modern-day "Silk Road", connecting China by land and sea to Southeast Asia, Pakistan and Central Asia, and beyond to the Middle East, Europe and Africa.

At a summit in May, Xi pledged $124 billion for the plan, but it has faced suspicion in Western capitals that it is intended more to assert Chinese influence than Beijing's professed desire to spread prosperity.

The surge in Chinese companies' acquisition-linked investments in the Belt and Road corridor comes as the volume of all outbound mergers and acquisitions from China has dropped 42 percent year-on-year as of Monday, the Thomson Reuters data showed.

Beijing's move to prop up the yuan by restricting the flow of capital outside the country and clamp down on debt-fuelled acquisitions to ensure financial stability has made it tougher for buyers to win approvals for deals abroad.

Regulators have tightened the screws further since June, reviewing deal agreements in minute detail and ordering a group of lenders to assess their exposure to offshore acquisitions by several big companies that have been on overseas buying sprees, including HNA Group, Dalian Wanda Group and Fosun Group.

The heightened regulatory scrutiny of overseas acquisitions comes after companies spent a record $220 billion in 2016 on assets overseas, buying up everything from movie studios to European football clubs.

The scrutiny, however, has not impacted Chinese companies' pursuit of targets along the Belt and Road corridor, as those investments are considered strategic for the companies as well as the Chinese economy.

"People are thinking in a long-term approach when making investments along Belt and Road countries," said Hilary Lau, a corporate and commercial lawyer and partner at the law firm Herbert Smith Freehills.

"The acquisitions are also policy-driven. There are funds allocated by Chinese banks and state funds for Belt and Road deals," he said.

The number of Chinese deals targeting Belt and Road countries totalled 109 this year, compared to 175 in the whole of last year and 134 in 2015, the Thomson Reuters data showed.

Approval Process

Companies enjoy a relatively smooth approval process for deals along the Belt and Road project as regulators tend to put them in a different basket when reviewing outbound investments, according to lawyers and dealmakers.

"If you are doing One Belt, One Road, that becomes the first sentence in the document" to the regulators, said a senior investment advisor at a Chinese company that has acquired several overseas businesses.

"It is a wise thing to point out early on," said the advisor, who requested anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

The largest deal in a Belt and Road country so far this year was a Chinese consortium's $11.6 billion buyout of the Singapore-based Global Logistics Properties.

Other top deals include the $1.8 billion purchase of an 8 percent ownership interest in an Abu Dhabi oil company by the state-owned oil giant China National Petroleum Corp, and HNA Group's $1 billion acquisition of a logistics company, CWT Ltd, which has not yet closed.

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange, China's foreign exchange regulator, said this month that domestic companies would still be encouraged to participate in Belt and Road activities.

HNA, which has seen at least two overseas deals hit a hurdle as a result of the crackdown on transferring money, has said it plans to prioritize investments that are in industries and regions mapped out under the Belt and Road initiative.

The belt and road acquisitions are predominantly in energy and infrastructure sectors, said Hilary Lau of Herbert Smith Freehills.

"We've seen a lot of activities recently in Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar. The whole Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh corridor is also hot as it's connecting the East and West," he said.