BEIJING - The combined outbound investment of Chinese companies declined during the first five months of 2014 due to plunges in major investment destinations, official data showed on Tuesday.

Shen Danyang, spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, said at a press conference that China's outbound direct investment (ODI) in non-financial sectors slumped 10.2 percent year on year to $30.81 billion in the January-May period.

The investment went to 2,766 overseas enterprises in 146 countries and regions. Hong Kong, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the EU, Australia, the United States, Russia and Japan received 68.7 percent of the ODI, or $21.16 billion, Shen said.

During the period, investment to Hong Kong plummeted 32.6 percent year on year, and investment to the EU and Australia dropped 9.2 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively.

The United States saw investment from China soar 144 percent to $2.03 billion, while Russia and Japan also saw surges of more than 100 percent due to a relatively low base number in the same period of last year.

As of the end of May, China had an accumulated outbound investment of $556.5 billion in non-financial sectors.