Chinese investment into overseas commercial and residential property hit a record US$33 billion ($47 billion) last year, a 53% y-o-y increase, according to the latest data from JLL’s Global Capital Flows.

Investment in land, offices and hotels account for 90% of all Chinese outbound capital in the last three years. In 2016, the hotel and industrial sectors showed the largest increase, owing to significant transactions in the US in the form of portfolio sales and Chinese appetite for industrial parks.

One of the biggest hotel acquisitions was made by Anbang Insurance when it bought Strategic Hotels and Resorts from US-based Blackstone Group for US$6.5 billion.

“China Life Insurance has secured assets across the hotel and office sectors with portfolio purchases from the Starwood Capital Group and an office tower in Manhattan; sovereign wealth fund Chinese Investment Corp has been active in the office sector in New York as well,” says David Green-Morgan, research director for JLL’s Global Capital Markets.

Land acquisitions by Chinese investors made a comeback last year, rising 44% y-o-y, following significant transactions in Hong Kong, Australia and Malaysia.

Overseas investment aside, Chinese investors further deepened their investment domestically. They accounted for more than 86% of transactions in China in 2016, up from about 75% in the past few years. Tier-1 cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen were most attractive to these investors, says JLL.