BEIJING, Sept. 26 -- China's non-financial outbound direct investment (ODI) increased 12.4 percent year on year to 94.09 billion U.S. dollars in the first eight months of the year, data from the Ministry of Commerce showed on Thursday.

The data showed that Chinese companies' non-financial ODI in Belt and Road partner countries reached 20.51 billion U.S. dollars, up 2.2 percent from the previous year.

During the same period, the turnover of contracted overseas projects by Chinese companies amounted to 97.34 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 5 percent, and the value of newly signed contracts rose 21.1 percent to 149.5 billion U.S. dollars.

The turnover of contracted overseas projects undertaken by Chinese companies in Belt and Road partner countries stood at 78.47 billion U.S. dollars during the period, up 3.6 percent year on year, while the value of Chinese companies' newly signed contracts in these countries reached 123.21 billion U.S. dollars, up 18.8 percent, the data showed.