China overtook the United States and Japan to become the biggest player in acquisitions in Belt and Road economies in 2016, and the trend will continue, according to a report by Thomson Reuters and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences on Wednesday.

The report said that the value of Chinese mergers and acquisitions in Belt and Road economies more than quadrupled to $9.9 billion in 2016 from $2.3 billion in 2014.

The energy, power and raw material sectors were the most popular targets among Chinese buyers, while US companies aimed for deals in the finance sector, and the Japanese preferred the industrial and raw material sectors.