HANGZHOU - Mergers and acquisitions activity in China lost momentum last year after China's securities regulator moved to step up market supervision.

Last year, 8,380 mergers and acquisitions were announced, down 28.5 percent from the previous year, investment research firm ChinaVenture said in a research note Monday.

Of all the mergers and acquisitions, 6,642 had a combined transaction value of $540.6 billion, it said, both figures down about 31 percent from a year earlier.

Internet, IT and manufacturing are the top three sectors in terms of deal numbers, and finance, resources and manufacturing are the top three in terms of value.

Contrary to the lackluster domestic market, Chinese companies spent big overseas.

In the first 10 months of 2016, the value of overseas mergers and acquisitions involving Chinese firms exceeded $200 billion, double the figure for the whole of 2015, ChinaVenture said.