China's overseas investment surge 36% in January-April

BEIJING - The Chinese mainland made more than 214 billion yuan ($35 billion) of non-financial investment in overseas markets in the first four months of 2015, up 36 percent year on year, latest data showed on Friday.

The outbound direct investment (ODI) during the period covered 2,884 overseas-based companies across 146 countries and regions, China's Ministry of Commerce spokesman Shen Danyang said at a press conference.

China's Hong Kong, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the European Union, Australia, the United States, Russia, and Japan accounted for 78 percent of the Chinese mainland's total ODI during the period, Shen said.

Investment to the EU saw a fastest year-on-year increase of 487 percent, Shen said, without giving more details.

Meanwhile, investment to nations along the Belt and Road, a China-proposed initiative to enhance international connections via building transport networks, totaled $3.72 billion during the period, he said. This accounted for more than 10 percent of the country's total ODI during the period.

Earlier data showed foreign direct investment on the Chinese mainland rose 11.1 percent year on year in the first four months, settling at 273.61 billion yuan.

The country became a net capital exporter for the first time last year when outbound direct investment (ODI) outnumbered capital inflows. The ODI grew 14.1 percent year on year in 2014, sharply eclipsing the 1.7 percent growth recorded for foreign direct investment.