With deep pockets at their disposal, ambitious Chinese companies are quickening their pace of venturing abroad.

China's outbound direct investment (ODI) in the non-financial sector stood at $5.27 billion in the first two months of this year, surging 13.1 percent from a year ago, said the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM).

The figure had brought the country's accumulated ODI in non-financial sector to $264 billion by the end of February.

During the January-February period, Chinese entrepreneurs invested in 680 overseas enterprises in 88 countries and regions, said Yao Jian, spokesman of the MOFCOM.

"This wave was driven by China's thirst for natural resources," said Xing Houyuan, Director of the Research Center for Overseas Investments of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, a MOFCOM-affiliated think-tank.

Meanwhile, more companies are looking to snap up brands and technological know-how, said Xing.

The government will also loosen the approval procedures and smooth the way for companies to establish overseas footholds, said Kong Linlong, Director of the Department of Foreign Capital and Overseas Investment of the National Development and Reform Commission.

"But offshore expansion is not without risks," said Yao. "The political turmoil in Libya, for example, has taken a painful toll on China's 50 contracted projects in the African country worth around $18.8 billion."

"That added urgency to building an effective insurance system for companies going global," he said.