Firms listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) reported active mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the first half (H1) of this year with industrial M&As leading the trend.

Over 470 such deals involving about 350 billion yuan were disclosed by Shanghai-listed firms during this period, SSE data showed.

Most of them were conducted within the same industry or along the industrial chain.

Sectors including telecom and information technology, medicine and non-ferrous medals reported active industrial M&As.

M&A deals of Shanghai-listed state-owned enterprises totaled 225 in H1 with about 240 billion yuan involved, generally flat with H1 2018.