BEIJING, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- More mergers and acquisitions (M&As) were made on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) last year, with the bulk of those deals belonging in emerging industries.

Some 1,226 deals were made on the bourse, with the total value of 1.2 trillion yuan (around 176.62 billion U.S. dollars) in 2018, up 42 percent and 31 percent from a year ago, respectively.

The SSE said there were "some positive trends" as more M&As were related to the real economy. "More than 70 percent of the deals were designed to consolidate resources of the same or upstream and downstream industries. The M&As played a bigger role in serving the real economy."

Of all such deals, both the number and value of those in strategic emerging industries including biomedicine, high-end manufacturing and information technology surpassed 70 percent.

The SSE said private companies made 690 M&As worth 532.8 billion yuan, up substantially. Nearly 60 percent of the companies on the exchange are privately owned, with their capitalization accounting for almost half of the total.

Shanghai-listed companies were also involved in 63 overseas M&As last year, with deals valued at 150 billion yuan in total.

The market order improved and investors were more rational about corporate reorganizations, the SSE said, adding that share prices remained stable.