BEIJING — China's outbound direct investment (ODI) rose 12.3 percent year-on-year to $153.7 billion in 2020, ranking first in the world, according to an official report released on Sept 29.

The country's influence in global foreign direct investment continued to grow, with its ODI flow accounting for 20.2 percent of the world's total in 2020, stated the report jointly released by China's Ministry of Commerce, the National Bureau of Statistics and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

By the end of 2020, the country's ODI stock stood at 2.58 trillion dollars, the report added.

China's investment had funded 45,000 overseas enterprises in 189 countries and regions last year, covering over 80 percent of the countries and regions globally.

Investment into countries along the Belt and Road had climbed steadily, with the total amount expanding 20.6 percent year-on-year to 22.54 billion dollars last year, according to the report.

Over 70 percent of its ODI flowed into leasing and business service, manufacturing, wholesale and retail as well as financial sectors last year, all of which recorded investment of more than $10 billion from China.

In 2020, Chinese-funded enterprises overseas employed about 2.18 million local staff, accounting for 60.6 percent of the total number of employees in these companies.

Anticipating that the global situation will remain grave and complex in 2021, the country said it will facilitate the development of overseas enterprises, improve pandemic prevention and control work and deepen high-quality cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative.