China's non-financial outbound direct investment (ODI) rose 3.8 percent to 555.11 billion yuan (about 78.5 billion U.S. dollars) in the first three quarters of the year, said the Ministry of Commerce Wednesday.

The pace accelerated from the 2.7-percent growth in the first eight months.

In September alone, China's ODI surged 14.2 percent year-on-year to 62 billion yuan.

During the first nine months, Chinese companies increased investment in countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, with a total investment of 10.04 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 12.4 percent of the total ODI.

The structure of ODI continued to improve. Investment mainly covers sectors including leasing and business services, manufacturing, wholesale and retail, accounting for 33 percent, 17.5 percent and 10.5 percent, respectively, according to the ministry.

Cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) also maintained sound development. A total of 247 cross-border projects were completed during the first nine months, with total actual transactions reaching 28.11 billion U.S. dollars, covering 16 sectors including manufacturing, information and software.

Besides, newly contracted projects worth over 500 billion U.S. dollars reached 528, as many as 11 more than the same period last year, accounting for 83.4 percent of the total contractual value.

As of September, Chinese companies invested 42.69 billion U.S. dollars in trade zones under construction in 46 countries, with 5,452 companies settled in the zones, creating 367,000 jobs.