Chinese companies, driven by favorable government policies and a desire to gain overseas assets, are on an unprecedented acquisition spree in the U.S. They've announced a record $40.5 billion of U.S. deals this year, already nearly double the amount for all of 2015. Here's a sample of what Chinese money is buying.

Luxury Hotels
Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc.'s portfolio includes Four Seasons properties in Austin and Silicon Valley, as well as the Intercontinental Miami and Chicago. China's Anbang Insurance Group Co. is paying about $6.5 billion to buy the hotel group from Blackstone Group LP—just three months after the New York-based private equity firm acquired it.

More Luxury Hotels
Anbang is also currently the lead bidder for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., after twice topping Marriott International Inc.'s bid. Starwood owns real estate valued at about $4 billion, including the St. Regis in New York. Anbang's latest offer values Starwood at about $14 billion.

Refrigerators, Dishwashers, and Coffee Machines
General Electric Co. agreed to sell its appliances business to China's Haier Group Co. for $5.4 billion in January—$2 billion more than Electrolux AB had agreed to pay for the business before the deal collapsed amid opposition from the U.S. Justice Department. Haier will need antitrust approval from authorities in the U.S., Mexico, Canada, and Colombia.

Cranes
Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science & Technology Co., a Chinese industrial machinery manufacturer, is pursuing Westport, Conn.-based cranemaker Terex Corp. After Terex agreed to a merger with Finnish competitor Konecranes Oyj, Zoomlion made an unsolicited counter-bid in January; last week it upped the offer to $31 a share.

The Dark Knight's Hollywood Producer
China's richest man agreed in January to buy Legendary Entertainment LLC, producer of Godzilla and the Dark Knight trilogy and co-producer of Jurassic World, for as much as $3.5 billion. Wang Jianlin is set to become the first Chinese person to control a Hollywood film company.

Software Distributors
Computer, networking, and software distributor Ingram Micro Inc. was snapped up in February by an arm of China’s HNA Group Co. for an equity value of about $6 billion. Ingram Micro will continue to be run from Irvine, Calif., and will become part of the Chinese conglomerate that acquired airport luggage handler Swissport International AG last year and missed out on London City Airport last month.

A Gay Dating App
Beijing Kunlun Tech Co., an Internet games company that helped introduce Angry Birds to China, bought a majority stake in Grindr, the world’s biggest gay social networking app. Chairman Zhou Yahui's company offered $93 million in cash for 60 percent of New Grindr LLC and is now scouting for other potential U.S. investments.

A Stock Exchange
The Chicago Stock Exchange said in February that a Chinese investor group, Chongqing Casin Enterprise Group, agreed to acquire it. The 134-year-old bourse handles only about 0.5 percent of U.S. stock trading, but the deal, which needs regulatory approval, would be the first Chinese acquisition of a U.S. exchange.