FACTBOX-Chinese financial firms' overseas investments

BEIJING, April 10 (Reuters) - Merrill Lynch's MER.N chief executive, John Thain, is visiting China and possibly its cash-rich financial institutions, just months after the firm received capital injections of more than $12 billion to help it recover from subprime-related losses.

Wachovia Capital Markets said this week it expects Merrill to post a first-quarter loss as the crisis spreads into the broader economy, while China's financial sector is eager to expand overseas to diversify risk and revenue streams.

At one time, state-controlled China Jianyin Investment Securities had been said by industry sources to be eyeing a potential tie-up with a major global brokerage, possibly Merrill.

More recently, China's CITIC Securities (600030.SS) had agreed to invest about $1 billion in Bear Stearns BSC.N but was thwarted when the U.S. bank was taken over by JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) last month.

Following are significant overseas deals involving Chinese financial firms.

* CHINA LIFE INSURANCE-VISA ($300 MILLION, MARCH 2008)

China Life Insurance Co (601628.SS) (2628.HK), the country's biggest life insurer, invested $300 million in Visa Inc's (V.N) $17.9 billion IPO, its first overseas investment.

* CHINA INVESTMENT CORP (CIC)-VISA ($100 MILLION)

China Investment Corp -- the $200 billion sovereign wealth fund -- was said by state media to have invested more than $100 million in Visa's initial public offering.

* PING AN INSURANCE-FORTIS ($3.4 BILLION, MARCH 2008)

Ping An Insurance (2318.HK), China's No. 2 life underwriter, paid 2.15 billion euros for half of Fortis' investment management business.

* CHINA INVESTMENT CORP-MORGAN STANLEY ($5 BILLION, DEC 2007)

The government wealth fund invested $5 billion in convertible securities for a 9.9 percent stake in the Wall Street firm.

* PING AN INSURANCE-FORTIS ($2.7 BILLION, NOV 2007)

Ping An Insurance paid $2.7 billion for a 4.2 percent stake in Fortis (FOR.BR), a Dutch-Belgian financial services firm.

* ICBC-STANDARD BANK ($5.6 BILLION, OCT 2007)

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (1398.HK), the country's biggest bank, agreed to pay $5.6 billion for a 20 percent stake in South Africa's Standard Bank (SBKJ.J).

* MINSHENG BANKING-UCBH HOLDINGS ($200 MILLION, OCT 2007)

Chinese lender Minsheng (600016.SS) agreed to buy 9.9 percent of San Francisco-based UCBH Holdings UCBH.O for more than $200 million in a two-stage purchase, marking the first investment by a mainland Chinese commercial bank in a U.S. lender.

* ICBC-SENG HENG BANK ($583 MILLION, AUG 2007)

ICBC paid $583 million for 80 percent of Macau's Seng Heng Bank, giving it a foothold in the booming gaming territory. The deal came after ICBC agreed to take over a 90 percent stake in December 2006 in PT Bank Halim Indonesia in December 2006, in the Chinese lender's first overseas acquisition.

* CHINA DEVELOPMENT BANK-BARCLAYS (2.2 BLN EUROS, JULY 2007)

The bank, whose loans support government policy initiatives, bought a 3.1 percent stake in Barclays (BARC.L) for 2.2 billion euros ($3.26 billion), allowing the British lender to raise its price in a takeover battle for ABN AMRO AAH.AS.

CDB had agreed it could potentially invest up to a further 7.6 billion euros for a 7.7 percent stake should Barclays have prevailed, but a consortium by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) won the bidding for the Dutch lender.

* CHINA-BLACKSTONE GROUP ($3 BILLION, MAY 2007)

CIC agreed to buy a non-voting stake of just under 10 percent in Blackstone Group (BX.N) for $3 billion ahead of the U.S. private equity firm's June listing.

* BANK OF CHINA-SINGAPORE AIRCRAFT ($965 MILLION, DEC 2006)

China's second-biggest lender, Bank of China (3988.HK), (601988.SS) bought Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise Pte Ltd for $965 million.

* CHINA CONSTRUCTION-BANK OF AMERICA ($1.2 BILLION, AUG 2006)

China Construction Bank (0939.HK) agreed to buy Bank of America Corp's (BAC.N) Hong Kong and Macau operations for $1.2 billion as the Chinese lender expanded beyond mainland China. ($=7.00 yuan) (Reporting by Kirby Chien; editing by Ken Wills)