Chinese companies have raised over $200bn in debt and equity in the past two years and are itching to pick up relatively cheap assets. Another attraction is the prospect of global reach and technology transfer. Big Chinese banks, for example, earn less than 3 per cent of their pre-tax income overseas and have much to learn about, say, investment banking services. Like the Japanese banks before them, Chinese lenders also want to follow their clients and money flows; hence the spate of deals in Africa. The recent brace of US stakes comes after bilateral banking assets tripled in the past decade to $31bn, according to Moody's.

These goals inform China's more subtle approach. In a reversal of the abortive 2005 bid for US oil major Unocal, Chinese buyers are willing to settle for minority stakes. They are also prepared to forego voting rights, as with the sovereign wealth fund's 10 per cent stake in Blackstone, the US private equity firm. And, since technical expertise and human capital is part of the attraction, management jobs are seldom on the line.

A more commercial attitude also prevails, although that will not necessarily extend to pricing discipline – or to rival bids from Chinese entities. However, some dud performance has put the focus on price, at least among Chinese bloggers. Blackstone shares are down almost 20 per cent since Beijing's June investment; Barclays, in which China Development Bank took a stake in July, has fallen 36 per cent, precluding further hasty acquisitions. Subsequent structuring shows lessons have been learnt, by, for example, using convertible bonds for protection from price fluctuations. With deep-pocketed Chinese crowding the auction rooms, sellers have less to fear from retreating private equity firms.