China’s non-financial outbound direct investment (ODI) surged by 18.2 percent year-on-year to US$12.02 billion in January, Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua reported this week.

The January rate of increase was a quickening from the 6.1-percent year-on-year growth seen in December. For 2015 as a whole, the average monthly growth of China’s non-financial ODI judged year-on-year was 14.7 percent, the report said.

China’s Ministry of Commerce was quoted as saying the robust performance last month was largely due to the growth of investment flows to manufacturing sectors overseas, including those for medicines, cars, and electronic equipment. China’s ODI in the manufacturing sector soared by 87.8 percent from the previous year, to US$1.62 billion in January, the Ministry added.

Xinhua also reported this week that non-financial foreign direct investment to China increased by 3.2 percent year-on-year to US$14.1 billion in January.