China's outbound direct investment (ODI) posted a year-on-year increase of 3.3 percent in 2020, reaching $132.9 billion, but non-financial ODI dipped by 0.4 percent to hit $110.2 billion, said Gao Feng, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce, at a press conference on Thursday.

Gao also said that 2020 witnessed increased cooperation between China and the countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as non-financial ODI in 58 BRI countries reached $17.8 billion, climbing 18.3 percent from the 2019 figure. In addition, the shares of non-financial ODI in BRI countries in total ODI value climbed by 2.6 percentage point to 16.2 percent.

The country's ODI in wholesale and retail sector increased the most, going up by 27.8 percent year on year, said Gao. Sectors including leasing and business services, electricity production and supply and scientific research and technical services also saw growth.

The value of new contracted projects overseas reached $255.6 billion, down by 1.8 percent year on year, said Gao, adding that around 80 percent of these projects are in the infrastructure sector.

Furthermore, the amount of new contracts for building construction and water conservancy construction projects increased rapidly, posting year-on-year increases of 37.9 percent and 17.9 percent, respectively.