When a year ends with volatility, it can sometimes be hard to remember the periods of calm that came before. When a year ends with uncertainty about what comes next, it is easy to forget that the going was often good. Sometimes very good.
The best news in 2016 came from the explosion of Chinese outbound MA. Chinese buyers had announced $218.6 billion of offshore deals by the time this magazine was published in December, a whopping 113% higher than 2015, according to Dealogic data.
These deals dominated conversation, ranging from blockbuster transactions like ChemChina’s $43 billion offer for Syngenta to small, but politically...