HK's chief: City to play pivotal role in ODI flows through B

Hong Kong's role in directing the mainland's outward investments will be further cemented by the Belt and Road Initiative and the city's participation will further stimulate its economic growth, its Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and other panelists told a forum.

According to data from the Ministry of Commerce, the National Bureau of Statistics and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange last September, the mainland's outbound direct investment grew at an annual average rate of nearly 40 percent between 1995 and 2015.

The country's ODI flow reached an historical high of $145.7 billion in 2015.