Zhejiang pins hopes on M&A strategy

East China's Zhejiang province has set up a merger and acquisition association in the hope of opening up the economy and fostering bigger private companies, local media reported.

The establishment of Zhejiang Investment M&A Association (ZIMAA) comes at an ideal time, with M&As becoming increasingly common around the world, according to Nan Cunhui, ZIMAA's president and chairman of the Wenzhou-based Chint Group.

"The sixth wave of global mergers has arrived. It is an era of merger and acquisition integration, service innovation, resource sharing and benefit sharing," he said, adding that ZIMAA will integrate resources to help with M&A among local private companies.

Zhejiang has long remained an economic powerhouse with a horde of private companies emerging and thriving over the last four decades. It has 507 listed companies as of 2017, ranking it second among all provinces in the country.