More Chinese companies are eyeing Africa as an ideal place for investment as China encourages its companies to globalize, a survey report on China's outbound investments released on Wednesday showed.

The report from the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) said the number of Chinese companies investing in Africa has sharply risen, while Asia, Europe and North America remain the hottest destinations for Chinese investment.

In 2011, China invested 59 billion U.S. dollars in 129 countries and regions, the report said.

Out of all of the Chinese companies that invested abroad in last year, 22 percent invested in Africa, the report said.

The bulk of China's overseas investments were channeled into manufacturing sectors, followed by distribution, farming, fishery and construction, according to the report.

Sixty-three percent of Chinese companies investing abroad said they will increase their overseas investments in the year to come, while only 10 percent said they will reduce their investments.

The survey was conducted by the CCPIT from December 2011 to March 2012 in order to track China's outbound investment trends from 2009 to 2011.

China's outbound direct investments stood at 8.51 billion U.S. dollars in the first quarter of this year for a 13.2 percent increase. This brought China's cumulative outbound non-financial direct investments to 267.3 billion U.S. dollars as of the end of March, official data showed earlier this month.

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