(Yicai) Sept. 26 -- China's outbound foreign direct investment accounted for 11.4 percent of the global total last year, remaining above the 10 percent threshold for the eighth consecutive year, according to the latest official report.

China's outward FDI rose 8.7 percent to USD177.3 billion last year from the year before, with its share of the global total increasing 0.5 percentage point to 11.4 percent, according to a report released on Sept. 24 by the Ministry of Commerce, National Bureau of Statistics, and State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

The world's outbound FDI fell 2 percent to USD1.55 trillion in the period, the report showed.

China's outward FDI covered 18 industries, with the main focus being on leasing and business services, wholesale and retail, manufacturing, and finance, according to the report. The combined investment in these four areas totaled USD138.5 billion, accounting for 78 percent of the total.

The country’s investment in leasing and business services and wholesale and retail rose 25 percent and 83 percent, respectively, last year from the previous one. Investment in construction and information transmission, software, and information technology services jumped 97 percent and 35 percent, respectively.

Nearly 80 percent of China's outbound FDI was invested in Asia last year, up 3.7 percentage points from the year before, according to the report. Investment in member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations rose 35 percent to USD25.1 billion, accounting for 18 percent of Asia's total.

China's foreign investment in Europe fell 3.6 percent to USD10 billion, making up 5.6 percent of the total. Meanwhile, investment in North America surged 7 percent to USD7.8 billion, accounting for 4.4 percent of the total. Outward FDI in the United States dropped 5.2 percent to USD6.9 billion, and that in Canada skyrocketed 141 percent to USD350 million.

Last year, China's overseas investment buoyed its foreign trade in goods up 6.4 percent to USD273 billion from the previous year, accounting for 4.6 percent of China's total imports and exports of goods in the period, said Zhang Li, director of the cooperation department of the MOF.

Editor: Futura Costaglione