China's mergers¹ and acquisitions (M&A) activity remained resilient in 2008 despite the global financial meltdown, making it the best performer in the Asia region, according to information company Thomson Reuters.

M&A activity in the country was at an all-time high of $159.6 billion worth of deals last year, 44 percent more than in 2007, compared with the year-on-year 11.1 percent fall in Asia, excluding Japan, Thomson Reuters said in a report.

"China was the only country in the region to experience growth in such a tumultuous environment, and it's also the most targeted nation in Asia with a 26.9 percent market share, " the report pointed² out.

"The market's better performance is mainly due to the fact that the impact of the economic crunch³ which started in the US is delayed when passing down to the domestic transaction activities, and the Beijing Olympics in August helped bolster⁴ the strong spirit of the market," said Xie Tao, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) transactions partner based in Beijing.

Xie added that unlike in other markets, Chinese companies are not in dearth⁵ of cash, which is crucial for M&A activity.

The largest transaction of the year was Aluminum⁶ Corp of China and Alcoa's stake purchase in Rio Tinto for $14.3 billion through their Singapore-based joint⁷ venture Shining Prospect⁸ Pte Ltd.