China became the world's second largest overseas investor with $143.04 billion of outbound direct investment (ODI) in 2018, second only to Japan with $143.16, a report said on Thursday.

The country's ODI decreased 9.6 percent percent year-on-year, while global foreign direct investment dipped 29 percent, according to the report.

Jointly released by the Ministry of Commerce, the National Bureau of Statistics and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, the report showed the stock of China's total ODI hit $1.98 trillion in 2018, ranking third after the United States and the Netherlands.

By the end of 2018, more than 27, domestic investors established 43,000 enterprises in 188 countries and regions in the world.

China has set up more than 10,000 overseas enterprises in the countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, the report said.