BEIJING - Chinese companies invested 12.9 percent less overseas than a year ago during the first four months of this year, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) on Friday.

China's outbound direct investment (ODI) in non-financial sectors slumped 12.9 percent year on year to $25.7 billion in the January-April period, narrowing from the 16.5 percent decline in the first quarter, MOC spokesman Shen Danyang said at a press conference.

The $25.7 billion ODI went to 2,352 overseas enterprises in 139 countries and regions. Hong Kong, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the EU, Australia, the US, Russia and Japan received about two-thirds of the ODI, or $17.1 billion.

In the period, China's investment in the United States soared 173.3 percent to $1.7 billion, while ODI growth in Russia and Japan jumped 238.5 percent and 204.3 percent from a year ago, mainly due to the small amount of investment last year.

As of the end of April, China had an accumulated outbound investment of $551.4 billion in non-financial sectors.

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