Cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the Chinese market increased by almost 100 percent in terms of the disclosed value of the transactions despite a global economic downturn in 2011, according to a report released by Zero2IPO Research Center on Tuesday.

The overseas M&A of Chinese corporations and M&A conducted by foreign companies in China are two major drives for the flourishing Chinese market of cross-border M&A in 2011, said the report.

According to the report, Chinese companies completed 110 overseas M&A deals in 2011 and the disclosed value of transactions reached 28 billion U.S. dollars, showing a year-on-year growth of 93 percent and 112.9 percent respectively.

Statistics from the report show that 66 M&A deals were carried out by foreign companies in China, a year-on-year increase of 50 percent. The disclosed value of transactions rose by 209.2 percent to 6.86 billion U.S. dollars.

The purchase for 1.62 billion U.S. dollars of Chinese snack and candy maker Hsu Fu Chi International Ltd. by Nestle, the world's largest food producer, is a stand-out from all the deals in the last year.

The report also pointed out that both the total volume and value of total M&A deals of 2011 in China hit a record high in the past six years.

Founded in 2001, Zero2IPO Research Center is a leading agency committed to providing information in areas of venture capital, private equity, IPO and M&A.