BEIJING — China's non-financial outbound direct investment (ODI) went down 4.9 percent year-on-year in the first quarter (Q1) of the year, official data showed.

The ODI amounted to 160.81 billion yuan (about $24.8 billion) in the period, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

China's non-financial ODI into countries along the Belt and Road sustained a steady growth. During the period, investment into these countries expanded 5.2 percent year-on-year, accounting for 17.8 percent of the total ODI. The share was up by 0.5 percentage points from the same period last year.

Outbound investment into manufacturing and information transmission grew rapidly. Information transmission sector, for instance, attracted 1.62 billion dollars of funds in the first three months, up 20.9 percent compared with the same period last year.