In the banks and boardrooms of New York, the jargon addicts of global capitalism have found a new name for the world’s largest communist power: the “aberrant buyer”.

This week, Chinese companies have muscled in on two of the highest-profile deals in town the US, with takeover bids that are reshaping shaking up the market for mergers and acquisitions and raising political tensions between two countries with an already strained relationship. China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) plans an hostile offer worth $19.6bn for Unocal, the oil group, while Haier, a maker of domestic appliances, is leading a $1.28bn approach for Maytag, thesmaller, but iconic US appliance maker known for its Hoover vacuum cleaners.