China’s banks and insurers have more actively sought overseas assets in 2014 than at any time in the past decade, hinting at a new found confidence to look abroad among the country’s financial institutions.

Last week’s €379m purchase of Banco Espirito Santo’s investment bank by Haitong Securities took the 2014 deal tally to 30 and the sector’s combined spend to $4.8bn, according to Dealogic. While that remains just shy of 2013’s $5.1bn, itself the biggest year since the financial crisis, the number of deals has nearly doubled.

Alongside Haitong’s recent deal, notable bank transactions have included ICBC’s $765m purchase of a majority stake in Standard Bank’s London trading business, while China Construction Bank’s $730m purchase of a 72 per cent stake in Brazil’s BicBancoreceived regulatory approval.