China outbound direct investment rises 3.9% in January-April

A BYD new energy vehicle was shown at the company’s manufacturing site in Camacari, Bahia State, Brazil, on July 1, 2025, in a Xinhua photo by Lucio Tavora.

China recorded 429.42 billion yuan, or about US$62.88 billion, in outbound direct investment across all sectors between January and April 2026, official figures released Tuesday showed. The total was 3.9 per cent higher than in the same period last year.

Within that overall yuan-denominated ODI figure, Chinese investors put non-financial direct investment into 5,231 overseas enterprises in 142 countries and regions. The Ministry of Commerce and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said that investment came to 315.74 billion yuan, a year-on-year fall of 13.9 per cent.

The increase in outbound investment came while China’s actual use of foreign direct investment moved lower. FDI used in the country totalled 287.69 billion yuan for January to April, down 10.3 per cent from a year earlier. Still, 20,113 new overseas-invested companies were set up nationwide in the four months, a 6.8 per cent rise that officials said pointed to continued confidence in China’s market.