Inbound M&A deals have already reached $7.1 billion so far in 2017, almost double the amount in the same period last year and are well on track to beat the 2016 total of $46 billion, while outbound deals tumbled more than 40 percent to $8.4 billion, Reuters data showed. Deals in retail and consumer staples accounted for nearly half those early transactions, far outpacing real estate and financial deals, which usually dominate inbound M&A. After a trial in a few of its free-trade zones, China in October expanded to the entire country a new liberalization program. Apart from a “negative list” of industries deemed too sensitive, foreign investments no longer need to go through a cumbersome approval system, and there has even been some loosening in the off-limits list.