China may see a double-digit growth and attain around 60 billion U.S. dollars in overseas direct investment (ODI) this year.

A recent China Daily quoted Liu Zuozhang, director general of the Investment Promotion Agency with Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), as saying that the country would keep a growth momentum in ODI this year.

China's ODI in non-financial sectors rose 6.5 percent from a year earlier to 43.3 billion U.S. dollars last year despite a global slump in foreign direct investment.

"There is little doubt that the nation's ODI in 2010 will climb up to 60 billion U.S. dollars," said Liu, who set the year-on-year growth rate at 15 to 39 percent this year.

Global foreign direct investment dropped 39 percent to around 1 trillion U.S. dollars in 2009, against a high of 1.97 trillion U.S. dollars in 2007, said the newspaper.

China's ODI growth momentum was fueled largely by the economic recovery in the United States and European Union, coupled by government support and overseas expansion plans of domestic companies.

China is one of the few countries that increased investments during the financial crisis.

MOFCOM data show that the country spent about 2.36 billion U.S. dollars on overseas investment in January. Over 70 percent of the investment was made through share purchase.