BEIJING -- China's non-financial outbound direct investment (ODI) went down 0.7 percent year on year in the first half of this year, data showed Thursday.

The ODI in 159 countries and regions amounted to 362.14 billion yuan (about $51.5 billion) in the period, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

China added a total of $8.12 billion of non-financial ODI into countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, up 19.4 percent year on year. Investment in member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) also saw stellar growth of 53.1 percent to $6.23 billion.

Chinese companies saw their overseas investment in the leasing and business services sector grow by 20.1 percent year on year to $19.56 billion, while investment into the manufacturing sector dropped 15.6 percent to $8.17 billion, according to the ministry.

Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Shanghai were the top three local sources of ODI. Provincial-level regions along the Yangtze River Economic Belt saw their ODI rise 37.8 percent year on year to $17.8 billion.

Major overseas projects increased. The number of newly signed overseas projects with a contract value exceeding $50 million came in at 381 in the first six months, 222 of which had a contract value above $100 million, up by 5 from the same period last year.

Data from the ministry also showed foreign direct investment into the Chinese mainland, in actual use, fell 1.3 percent year on year to about 472.18 billion yuan in H1.