Companies in China invested 60 billion reais (US$19 billion) in Brazil in the 30 months ended in June, becoming the largest foreign investors in mergers and acquisitions, overtaking the United States of America, according to Brazilian daily newspaper O Estado de São Paulo.

In 2016, the Chinese invested 23.96 billion reais in assets in Brazil, almost double the 13.4 billion reais invested by US companies, a trend that was repeated in the first half of 2017, with 17.8 billion reais invested by the Chinese and 12.3 billion reais by the Americans.

A BTG Pactual bank official told the newspaper that capital injections by Chinese companies in 2017 will be “as strong as or more intense than in 2016,” adding there would be no decline in their interest in mergers and acquisitions in Brazil.

Rodrick Greenlees, director of investment banking at Itau BBA, said the bank was consulting for more Chinese investors this year than in 2016 and Santander’s vice president Jean Pierre Dupui said the bank is supporting six major negotiations involving Chinese companies, compared to two in 2016.

“These are deals expected to occur in the food and beverage, raw materials and real estate sectors,” the vice president of Santander told the newspaper.

The president of the Brazil-China Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Charles Tang, said the Chinese plan to grow in the financial, sanitation and energy sectors.

“Brazil is an important partner because it provides strategic products such as minerals and food for China to ensure its sustainable growth,” added Tang.