China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on December 22 the country's direct investment in overseas markets from non-financial sectors is expected to top $42 billion for 2009.

Outbound direct investments (ODIs) include establishing overseas marketing networks and acquiring advanced technologies and assets from countries abroad.

The non-financial ODI in the first nine months stood at $32.87 billion, an increase of 0.5 percent from one year earlier, according to MOFCOM.

Analysts believe an increasing number of Chinese companies are seizing the opportunity to expand globally before rising commodity prices put their target assets out of reach.