This aerial photo shows a cargo ship at a smart container terminal of Tianjin Port in North China's Tianjin, July 7, 2023. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

BEIJING - China's non-financial outbound direct investment increased 18.1 percent year-on-year to 500.94 billion yuan in the first seven months of the year, official data showed Thursday.

The non-financial ODI in countries along the Belt and Road came in at 13.69 billion dollars, up 15.3 percent year-on-year

In US dollar terms, the ODI stood at $71.93 billion in the period, up 10.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

The non-financial ODI in countries along the Belt and Road came in at 13.69 billion dollars, up 15.3 percent year-on-year.

READ MORE: China's non-financial ODI up 16.1% in first five months

The turnover of contracted projects overseas expanded 6.3 percent year-on-year to 563.76 billion yuan, while the contract value of newly-signed projects amounted to 746.36 billion yuan, up 0.6 percent from a year earlier.