China's direct investment overseas hit a new high of 12.26 billion US dollars in 2005, exceeding 10 billion dollars for the first time, People’s Daily reported. The Ministry of Commerce’s figure, which excludes investment in the financial sector, saw a 123 percent year-on-year increase. Mergers and acquisitions accounted for half of China's overseas direct investment in 2005. Forty-three percent of the investment were in the form of lending to overseas businesses. Eighty one percent of the investment in 2005 went to Cayman Island, Hong Kong and other tax havens. Latin America overtook Asia as the No. 1 destination for Chinese investment in 200, said the paper5. Asia and Latin America together account for 90 percent of China's aggregated overseas investment. The bulletin said that limited-liability companies have overtaken state-owned enterprises to become China's largest investor in overseas market with their aggregated investment representing 32 percent, up four percentage points from 2004. The investment by state-owned enterprises accounted for 29 percent, down six percentage points from a year ago.