The mainland's oil ambitions know no bounds, judging from the flurry of mega deals in the past few months. The latest attempt by China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), the mainland's biggest oil company, to purchase the majority interest in the Argentinian unit of Spanish energy giant Repsol-YPF for US$17 billion has raised more than a few eyebrows at home and abroad, particularly in the power corridors of Beijing, Madrid and Buenos Aires.
China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), the mainland's largest offshore oil company, is also reportedly interested in buying a stake of 25 per cent in YPF.
The bids, as first reported on Thursday by the South China Morning Post, are the latest signs of the mainland's aggressive strategy of sourcing and securing energy supplies worldwide to fuel its economic expansion.
As oil giants are racing against the clock and around the world to make these huge oil deals, mainland leaders should take a reality check and be sober-minded, not least because the high-profile and multibillion-US-dollar acquisitions risk political and social backlash against the mainland's overseas investments.
More important, those deals, if not thought through and handled properly, can pose subtle and sticky problems for the mainland's foreign-relations and geopolitical policies.
In other words, Beijing's leaders need to weigh political and commercial considerations very closely before allowing mainland companies to gobble up assets in foreign countries.