Outbound non-financial direct investments up 44%

China's total outbound direct investment from the non-financial sector jumped 44.1 percent to $170.11 billion in 2016 compared with the previous year, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce on Monday.

Outbound direct investment made by Chinese companies in countries and regions along the Belt and Road Initiative amounted to $14.53 billion last year. Chinese companies from sectors such as infrastructure and power signed $126.03 billion of new project contracts in the two trading routes in the meantime, accounting for 51.6 percent of the country's total in global markets.

An official from of the ministry's department of outward investment and economic cooperation said that as the country was undergoing an industrial upgrading boom, the investment categories of Chinese companies have been further expanded in overseas markets, according to the ministry's website.