China's non-financial outbound direct investment down 5.2 pct in Jan.-Sept.

Aerial photo taken on May 16, 2021 shows an overview of the first berth of Lamu Port in Kenya. Lamu Port, which is being built by China Communications Construction Company, and is part of Kenya's bid to become the major trade hub in East Africa. (Photo by Cui Weibao/Xinhua)

BEIJING, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- China's non-financial outbound direct investment (ODI) went down 5.2 percent year on year in the first nine months of this year, official data showed Thursday.

The ODI amounted to 522.76 billion yuan (about 80.78 billion U.S. dollars) in the period, according to the Ministry of Commerce.