Chinese Purchases of U.S. Companies Plunged 56 percent in 2017

Chinese acquisitions of U.S. companies dropped 56 percent in volume to $44.5 billion, dragged down by concerns about U.S. national-security deal reviews and shifts in China’s foreign investment policies.

The drop in Chinese-U.S. deal value to its lowest level since 2013 comes as overall cross-border acquisitions surged to $2.17 trillion, the highest total in nine years, Bloomberg Law data shows.

Deal lawyers attribute much of the slowdown to China’s tightened control on money leaving the country, but say U.S. scrutiny of China-based acquisitions has given some companies cause for hesitation.

“It does create caution in many people’s minds when Chinese ...