Last week, China's coast guard mounted what the Philippines called an "unusual" show of force at Second Thomas Shoal, a hotly disputed submerged reef in the Spratly Islands where Manila maintains a small outpost in the form of the rusting warship BRP Sierra Madre, grounded there in 1999 to anchor its territorial claim.

"We are actively finding and negotiating projects in resource rich countries and regions including Africa and South America," Liu Jianfeng, CMOC's chairman said at an earnings briefing, without indicating any targets. Get the latest news and expert analysis about the state of the global economy with the Reuters Econ World newsletter. Sign up here.