Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is stringing together quite a streak. The investment bank is poised to top the global merger-and-acquisition league tables for the sixth consecutive year.

Merger activity was more subdued in 2016 than it was in the record-breaking year that preceded it. But that doesn't mean the year lacked for drama.

Health care-focused, private-equity investors in China are facing competition and forging partnerships as Chinese technology companies seek to leverage their dominance on all things digital in the provision of care. But consultant Bain & Co. said private-equity investors looking for opportunities in the emerging market's health-care sector aren't squeezed out.

The North Carolina Department of State Treasurer is seeking to relax limits to how the state pension fund can be invested across private equity and other alternative investments, a move that would give it wider berth to shape an $84 billion portfolio amid interest-rate uncertainty.