(Yicai Global) Feb. 12 -- China reined in irrational outbound investment in hotels, cinemas and entertainment by domestic companies last year and will do so again this year.

The National Development and Reform Commission released a catalog of taboo trades for this year's outbound investment yesterday. In addition to classing weapons development, production and maintenance, cross-border water resource development and utilization and news and media as sensitive sectors for outward investment, the commission also restricted Chinese firms' overseas investment in real estate, hotels, cinemas, entertainment and sports clubs and on their establishing equity investment funds or platforms without specific industry projects outside China.

The combined value of China's mergers and acquisitions abroad reached USD142 billion last year, down 35 percent from USD218 billion notched the year before. The value of overseas M&A deals by Chinese businesses in the media and entertainment sector fell to USD3.4 billion last year from USD20.4 billion the previous year, per Thomson Reuters data.