BEIJING — China's non-financial outbound direct investment (ODI) declined 0.6 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of this year, official data showed on April 21.

Non-financial ODI in 153 countries and regions stood at 169.03 billion yuan (about $24.22 billion) during the period, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

Chinese companies enhanced cooperation with countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative in the first three months, adding a total of $4.2 billion of new investment, up 11.7 percent from the previous year.

China's investment mainly flowed into sectors including leasing and business services, wholesale and retail, manufacturing and mining, according to the ministry.

The value of newly signed deals saw a year-on-year increase of 13.2 percent to reach 386.5 billion yuan, with big projects taking the lion's share.

During the period, the number of projects with a contract value exceeding $50 million came in at 187, up by 10 from a year earlier. The total contract value of those projects amounted to $45.74 billion, accounting for 82.6 percent of the newly signed contracts.