BEIJING — China's non-financial outbound direct investment (ODI) went down 0.7 percent year-on-year in the first half of this year, data showed on July 16.

The ODI in 159 countries and regions amounted to 362.14 billion yuan (about $51.5 billion) in the period, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

China added a total of $8.12 billion of non-financial ODI into countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, up 19.4 percent year-on-year. Investment in member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) also saw stellar growth of 53.1 percent to $6.23 billion.

Chinese companies saw their overseas investment in the leasing and business services sector grow by 20.1 percent year-on-year to $19.56 billion, while investment into the manufacturing sector dropped 15.6 percent to $8.17 billion, according to the ministry.

Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Shanghai were the top three local sources of ODI. Provincial-level regions along the Yangtze River Economic Belt saw their ODI rise 37.8 percent year-on-year to $17.8 billion.

Major overseas projects increased. The number of newly signed overseas projects with a contract value exceeding $50 million came in at 381 in the first six months, 222 of which had a contract value above $100 million, up by 5 from the same period last year.

Data from the ministry also showed foreign direct investment into the Chinese mainland, in actual use, fell 1.3 percent year-on-year to about $472.18 billion in H1.