BERLIN - China overtook the United States to become the top foreign investor in Germany in 2011 in terms of investment project numbers, according to statistics released by the Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI) agency on Thursday.

Chinese investment projects in Germany have totaled up to 158, ahead of the United States'110, Switzerland's 91 and France's 53, said a statement by GTAI, the economic development agency of the German government.

The foreign investment projects in Germany mainly concentrate in the mechanical engineering and automotive sectors, which account for 20 percent of the total, as most of them involved in the new production bases, in comparison with 13 percent being pumped into the sphere of new technologies, 6 percent into the field of renewable energy.

In a latest sign of the strong Chinese investment tide in Germany, automotive supplier Heibei Lingyun Industrial Group Corporation earlier this week agreed to buy Kiekert, a German maker of latch systems for cars.

Early this year, Chinese construction equipment manufacturer Sany Heavy Industry wound up a landmark acquisition of Putzmeister, a German engineering firm.

The deal has been deemed as one of the biggest investment projects in the mechanical manufacturing and engineering sector, the pillar industry of the German economy.

More than half of the total foreign investments in Germany still come from the European countries, according to the GTAI.