China Jan-Sept ODI up 53.7% to $134 bn

China's non-financial outbound direct investment surged 53.7 per cent to $134.22 billion in the first nine months of this year as Chinese firms continued to invest big abroad, the Commerce Ministry said on Tuesday.

China's non-financial outbound direct investment (ODI) surged 53.7 per cent from a year ago to 882.78 billion yuan ($134.22 billion) in the January-September period, Shen Danyang, spokesman for the ministry, told media briefing here.

In September alone, China's ODI rose 56.9 per cent year on year to $16.16 billion. He attributed the rise in Chinese investments to the Belt and Road (Silk Road) Initiative, saying that it had boosted business cooperation between Chinese and foreign firms. 

During the first nine months, 4,191 engineering contracts were signed by Chinese companies in 61 countries along the Belt and Road routes, with combined contract value of $74.56 billion, he said. Chinese firms had invested $17.9 billion in 56 economic and trade cooperation zones in 20 countries along the Belt and Road during the same period, creating 163,000 jobs for local people, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. 

Chinese companies completed 521 overseas mergers and acquisition projects during the first nine months, with the transaction value reaching $67.44 billion, surpassing the total amount of last year.

The mergers and acquisitions involved 18 industries in 67 countries and regions, the report said. Some of the big investments under the Silk Road plan were made in Pakistan under the $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, officials said. Contracts worth about $13 billion in infrastructure projects were signed during Chinese President Xi Jinping's recent visit to Bangladesh.