China's outbound direct investment is set to soar in the coming years, with double-digit growth rates predicted, the Ministry of Commerce said.

"China's ODI is still in the initial stages, but the growth trend looks set to increase,'' said Chen Runyun, commercial counselor at the department of outward investment and economic cooperation at the ministry.

ODI surged by 1.8 per cent in 2011, from the previous year, to US$60 billion. But the figure, from January to April of this year, grew by 72.8 per cent year-on-year to $23.16 billion. China's total ODI, at the end of April, stood at $345.1 billion.

"The trend is clear. ODI is on a fast-growth track which will probably continue for some decades," Chen said. "Various factors, including the increasingly appreciating yuan, China's large foreign exchange reserves and domestic companies expanding abroad, are driving the fast growth.''

A recent ministry statement said that ODI is expected to register an annual growth rate of 17 per cent from 2011 to 2015, reaching $150 billion in 2015. Contracted value for the nation's engineering projects is expected to reach $180 billion in 2015.

China overtook Japan and the United Kingdom in 2010 to become the fifth-largest global investor. China was the largest investor among the developing nations in 2010 and 2011.

Overseas investment, by the end of 2010, mainly went to manufacturing, retail, wholesale, commercial services and mining. In his annual government work report, Premier Wen Jiabao said China will guide enterprises to buy, invest and merge in key sectors overseas, including energy, raw materials, agriculture, and manufacturing. This is the first time that specific sectors were included in the government report.

Chen predicted that Latin America will be another key investment destination. China's investment in the European Union jumped by 94 per cent in 2011, year-on-year, to $4.28 billion, and in Africa it went up by 59 per cent year-on-year.

More and more overseas investment deals came through mergers and acquisitions. The report by China Venture said the value of deals in China's M&A market totalled $154 billion last year, up 74 per cent from 2007. From January to April, the amount of finished deals through M&A reached $26.77 billion.

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