There have been 1,145 outbound merger and acquisition deals made by Chinese companies since 2008 and their value has hit $454.5 billion, according to a report by ChinaVenture Group.

The report said that the total value of outbound M&A deals in 2012 was $141.3 billion, which was the highest in the last five years.

State-owned enterprises have led most M&A deals in the energy sector, the report said.