China 2013 outbound investment hits record high

China's outbound direct investment (ODI) reached a record high of 108 billion U.S. dollars in 2013, making it the world's third largest investor for the second year.

The amount is 22.8 percent up on the previous year, in contrast to the 1.4 percent gain in global outbound investment, according to a report released by the Ministry of Commerce (MOC), National Bureau of Statistics and State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

The figures were released at the 18th China International Fair for Investment and Trade, sponsored by the MOC, in the coastal city of Xiamen in east China's Fujian Province.

At the end of 2013, the accumulated ODI by Chinese companies stood at 660 billion U.S. dollars, ranking China 11th in the world. Chinese investors have established about 25,400 overseas enterprises in 184 countries and regions.

Five sectors--leasing & business service, finance, mining, wholesale & retail and manufacturing--took 83 percent of the overall investment.

Fang Wei, deputy head of the Department of Outward Investment and Economic Cooperation of MOC, said among the investment projects last year, the purchase by Chinese oil company CNOOC of Canada's Nexen was the largest at 14.8 billion U.S. dollars.

The Chinese government has been encouraging domestic companies to "go global" as the economy grew increasingly integrated with the world. The country's overseas investment is predicted to grow by an annual rate of 17 percent during the 2011-2015 period, according to earlier projections from the MOC.