WASHINGTON (Feb 27): Chinese investors were subject to more US national-security reviews for the second straight year in 2013 than acquirers from any other countries, the Treasury Department said.

Chinese investors were buyers of American businesses that year in 21 of 97 proposed transactions reviewed by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, compared with 23 of 114 in 2012, the department said in an annual report released on Thursday.

Japan ranked second with 18 reviewable transactions, followed by Canada with 12.

The committee, known as CFIUS, is an inter-agency group headed by Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew to review takeovers to determine if they affect US national security.

US officials carried out investigations on 48 deals, up from 45 in 2012. Not all transactions deemed reviewable lead to investigations.

Filings were on pace to reach more than 140 deals in 2014, said a Treasury official who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity.

CFIUS in 2013 approved what was the biggest Chinese purchase of a US company, with Shuanghui International Holdings buying Smithfield Foods, the world’s largest hog and pork producer, for US$4.7 billion.

Five acquisitions were withdrawn following the start of an investigation in 2013, compared with 20 the previous year.