Chinese companies don’t just have to look out for foreign governments when pursuing overseas investments – the domestic authorities are a concern too. After the high-profile failure (for now) of China Minmetals’ planned acquisition of Australia’s OZ Minerals due to Australia’s government blocking the deal, we now find Bank of China giving up on its planned investment in French private bank Financière Edmond de Rothschild. The sticking point? The China Banking Regulatory Commission, which has gone on record as not being too keen on Chinese outbound investment in the financial sector. Fair enough, we suppose, given the recent performance of the financial sector outside of China – despite the efforts of all those folks in London. Inside China, the story is rather different: Stocks have hit yet another seven-month high, helped along by financial services companies like China Construction Bank and China Merchants Bank. CITIC Securities – which along with China International Capital Corp arranged US$4.9 billion in medium-term note (a kind of bond) sales in the first quarter – had spurred the rally with a prediction of a rebound in financial services companies’ earnings in the second quarter. Also looking ahead to a boost was Huaneng Power International, which is increasing capital spending by 18% this year to meet an expected rise in demand.