BEIJING -- China's outbound direct investment hit a record high but grew at a slower pace in 2011, according to a government report released on Thursday.

The country's ODI increased 8.5 percent year-on-year to $74.65 billion in 2011, ranking sixth worldwide, said the report jointly released by the Ministry of Commerce, the National Bureau of Statistics and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

The annual growth was much milder compared with the 21.7-percent rate recorded in 2010.

About 80 percent of the ODI in 2011 went to developing countries, with investment in Europe, Oceania and Africa accelerating and that in North America decreasing, according to the report.

China's ODI in Europe rose 22.1 percent year-on-year to $8.25 billion in 2011, while that in Oceania surged 75.6 percent to $3.32 billion and that in Africa jumped 50.4 percent to $3.17 billion.

ODI in North America fell 5.3 percent year-on-year to $2.48 billion in 2011.

Of the national total, ODI in non-financial sectors rose 14 percent year-on-year to $68.58 billion in 2011, said the report.

By the end of 2011, China's ODI had accumulated to $424.78 billion and Chinese investors had set up about 18,000 enterprises overseas, employing 888,000 foreigners with a total asset value of nearly $2 trillion.

Those enterprises paid more than $22 billion of taxes in countries in which they operated in 2011, according to the report.