China's outbound direct investment (ODI) in non-financial sectors grew 40.2 percent year on year to $28.52 billion during the first five months, the Ministry of Commerce announced on June 26.

In the first five months, Chinese investors made investments in 1,709 overseas companies based in 115 countries and regions. About 39.3 percent, worth about $11.2 billion, went into mergers and acquisitions.

The flow of ODI into Hong Kong, the United States and the EU dramatically increased, up 50.9 percent, 45.9 percent and 23.6 percent, respectively.

As of the end of May, China's non-financial ODI had amounted to $350.6 billion.