China’s non-financial outbound direct investment (ODI) in 1,416 companies in 138 countries and regions stood at $15.66 billion from January to February, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said on March 21.

In the first two months, the value of new contracts signed for foreign projects hit $22.98 billion, and the business volume hit $17.63 billion, MOC spokesperson Gao Feng told a regular press conference.

According to Gao, the country dispatched 68,000 workers of various kinds overseas, bringing the total number of such laborers to 966,000 by the end of February.

China’s outbound investment continued healthy development in the first two months, Gao added.

Positive efforts were made to boost investment cooperation with Belt and Road countries. Chinese companies’ new investment in 48 countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative rose 7 percent year on year to $2.3 billion during the period.

The value of new contracts signed with these countries reached $12.23 billion, accounting for 53.2 percent of the total value of China’s foreign contracted projects in the same period.

Cross-border mergers and acquisitions witnessed steady development, according to the MOC. Chinese companies completed 45 cross-border mergers and acquisitions projects in 22 countries and regions, mostly in 12 sectors of manufacturing, finance, leasing and business services, realizing an actual transaction volume of $2.48 billion in total, including direct investment of $1.85 billion.

The structure of outbound investment continued to improve, with irrational outbound investment being effectively contained, Gao said.

During the period, China’s outbound investment mainly went into leasing and business services, manufacturing, and retail and wholesale sectors. These sectors accounted for 28.2 percent, 20.5 percent and 10.2 percent respectively, of the country’s total outbound investment. Investment in manufacturing hit $3.21 billion, up 16.7 percent year on year.

A number of major projects were signed in the first two months, greatly facilitating local development, Gao disclosed. From January to February, the number of projects with contract value above $50 million reached 86, and these projects accounted for 81.1 percent of the total contract value.

From January to February, the turnover of foreign contracted projects was mainly generated by transportation construction and power engineering construction, which accounted for over 60 percent of the total turnover. These projects effectively improved the host countries’ infrastructure.

In the first two months, competent departments approved the establishment and merger and acquisition of 618 enterprises, with the total contracted investment reaching $9.88 billion, according to the MOC.

In the same period, 614 companies signed contracts to invest $9.37 billion in non-financial sector and four enterprises signed contracts to invest $510 million in financial sector.