BEIJING -- China's overseas investment will rise by roughly 10 percent from the previous year to 120 billion yuan ($19.67 billion), a trade official said on Wednesday.

The 10 percent growth rate will remain for the next five years, Chinese Assistant Trade Minister Zhang Xiangchen said.

It is just a matter of time before China's outbound investment will exceed foreign investment into the country, he said.

In the first nine months, China's investment in other nations and regions hit $74.96 billion, up 21.6 percent year on year, while the country actually used $87.36 billion of overseas investment, down 1.4 percent year on year.

China's equipment manufacturers have found huge markets overseas, involving sectors such as shipping, high-speed railway, electricity and telecommunication, Zhang said.

The country's outbound investment was $2.7 billion in 2002, but rose to $107.8 billion in 2013, ranking the third in the world after the United States and Japan, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

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