China's non-financial outbound direct investment amounted to 343.47 billion yuan ($47.41 billion) in the first four months of 2024, up 18.7 percent year-on-year, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce on Thursday.

In the meantime, Chinese companies' non-financial outbound investment in countries and regions participating in the Belt and Road Initiative reached 77.77 billion yuan, surging 20.4 percent year-on-year.

Chinese businesses' turnover of contracted projects overseas rose 8.8 percent on a yearly basis to 313.42 billion yuan between January and April, while the contract value of newly-signed projects amounted to 444.39 billion yuan, growing 9.3 percent year-on-year, said the ministry.