BEIJING, July 16 (Xinhua) -- China's non-financial outbound direct investment (ODI) maintained healthy growth in the first half of this year, official data showed Tuesday.

(File Photo: VCG)

Non-financial ODI in 151 countries and regions amounted to 346.8 billion yuan (about 50.4 billion U.S. dollars) in the period, up 0.1 percent year on year, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOC).

In June alone, the ODI rose 6.3 percent year on year to 63.7 billion yuan.

"China's ODI cooperation has maintained steady and healthy development in the first six months," said MOC official Han Yong.

During the period, Chinese companies added a total of 6.8 billion dollars worth of investment into 51 countries along the Belt and Road, accounting for 12.6 percent of the total.

The structure of outbound investment continued to improve, with investment mainly going into sectors including leasing and business services, manufacturing and retail as well as information and technology, according to the ministry.

In terms of cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A), Chinese enterprises completed 161 M&A deals during the January-June period in countries including Finland, France and Peru with deals worth 16.9 billion dollars in sectors including manufacturing and information technology services.

Major overseas projects are bringing mutual benefit, the MOC said. The number of newly signed overseas projects with contract value exceeding 50 million dollars came in at 389 in the first six months. Nearly 70 percent of overseas projects are in sectors including electricity and transport.