China’s outbound direct investment (ODI) will exceed the inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI) this year, said on Friday Shen Danyang, spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.

His remarks came as China’s ODI surged 61.9 percent year-on-year to 479.3 billion yuan (US$74 billion) in the first five months of 2016, state-run news agency Xinhua reported. China’s FDI rose by 3.8 percent from the previous year to over 343.6 billion yuan in the January to May period, according to official data.

Mr Shen also said in a press conference in Beijing that the jump in ODI was “normal”, dismissing concerns that such a hike would intensify capital outflows from the nation.

“We are studying whether this will pose any risk and if we need to take any targeted measures,” he added.