BEIJING — China’s outbound direct investment (ODI) maintained stable development last year, official data showed on Jan 16.

The country’s ODI rose 4.2 percent year-on-year to $129.83 billion in 2018, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOC).

Of the total, non-financial ODI edged up 0.3 percent to $120.5 billion, while financial ODI surged 105.1 percent to $9.33 billion.

ODI in countries along the Belt and Road climbed 8.9 percent to $15.64 billion, accounting for 13 percent of the total, according to Han Yong, deputy head of the outward investment and economic cooperation department under the MOC.

The structure of outbound investment continued to improve, with investment mainly going into leasing and business services, manufacturing, retail and wholesale, and mining sectors.

“No new projects were reported in sectors such as property development, sports and entertainment,” Han said. “Irrational investment continued to be effectively curbed.”

China’s ODI had seen rapid growth before authorities set stricter rules in recent years and advised companies to make investment decisions more carefully.

By the end of 2018, overseas economic and trade cooperation zones that had passed China’s official evaluations had attracted 933 enterprises and $20.96 billion of investment, creating 147,000 jobs and $2.28 billion of tax revenue for host countries.

In 2018 alone, these cooperation zones drew $2.5 billion of new investment and created $590 million of tax revenue.

The MOC will continue to promote the stable, healthy and orderly development of the country’s ODI, according to Han.