BEIJING - China's direct investment in the United States reached a record high of $8 billion in 2015 as Chinese firms continued to expand overseas.

Investment in the United States accounted for 5.5 percent of China's total outbound direct investment (ODI), with the manufacturing sector attracting the most capital, according to a report by the Ministry of Commerce, the National Bureau of Statistics and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

US manufacturing drew $4 billion of investment from China last year, accounting for half of the total Chinese investment and up 122.2 percent year on year.

During that period, Chinese companies carried out 97 mergers and acquisition, worth $13.1 billion, according to the report.

Of existing Chinese investment in the US, manufacturing accounted for the largest share -- 26.3 percent -- with a total value of $10.7 billion.

The majority of that investment went to car making, ferrous metal smelting, medicine and transport equipment manufacturing, the report said.

China is now the world's second-largest source of outbound investment, exceeded only by the United States.

The country's total non-financial ODI hit $146 billion in 2015, up 18.3 percent year on year and exceeding the 136 billion in foreign direct investment it received, making it a net capital exporter for the first time.