China's ODI down 38.8% in May

BEIJING — China's non-financial outbound direct investment (ODI) dropped 38.8 percent year-on-year to $8.22 billion in May, official data showed Friday.

In the first five months of this year, the country's non-financial ODI dropped 53 percent year-on-year to $34.59 billion, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOC).

Chinese companies invested in 3,121 overseas enterprises in 145 countries and regions from January to May, data showed.

Commercial services, manufacturing and information transmission as well as software and information technology industries took the lead in investment value.

Outbound investment to countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative accounted for 14.4 percent of the total ODI in the first five months, up 6.7 percentage points from the same period of 2016.

China's direct investment to Africa increased 15.2 percent year-on-year during the January-May period this year.

In the first five months, engineering contracts totaling $75.4 billion were signed between Chinese companies and overseas partners, down 0.1 percent year-on-year.

More than half of the contract value came from 2,128 new contracts for overseas engineering projects signed with 61 countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.