China's non-financial outbound direct investment (ODI) stood at $57.18 billion in the first half of 2018, up 18.7 percent year-on-year and covering 3,617 companies in 151 countries and regions, official data showed on Tuesday.
Chinese investment overseas maintained stable and healthy development in the first six months of the year, an official at the Ministry of Commerce, whose name was not given, was quoted as saying in a statement on the ministry's website on Tuesday.
During that period, Chinese companies' new investment in countries and regions along the China-proposed Belt and Road initiative totaled $7.4 billion, an increase of 12 percent from the same period last year, according to the statement.
As for cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the first half, domestic corporations conducted 140 M&As in 41 countries and regions, with deals worth $26.11 billion in total. The deals mainly covered the manufacturing and mining sectors.
Meanwhile, there were no newly added projects in other countries invested by domestic companies in sectors including real estate, sports as well as entertainment.
The statement also said that during the first half of the year, Chinese companies preliminarily established 113 trade and economic cooperation zones in 46 countries, attracting a total of 4,542 enterprises and creating 287,000 jobs.
Furthermore, Chinese companies contracted 356 projects overseas that are valued above $50 million each in the first half, according to the statement. These projects drove China's cargo exports by $8.99 billion, up 23.1 percent year-on-year.
