Energy sectors remain major focus of China's ODI

BEIJING -- Outbound direct investment made by China's energy and resources industries reached around $239 billion from 2005 to the first half of 2012, accounting for 71 percent of the country's ODI, according to a report issued Wednesday by Ernst & Young.

China's ODI skyrocketed from $10 billion in 2005 to nearly $73 billion in 2011, the report said.

In recent years, China has diversified its ODI from energy industries to the agriculture and technology sectors.

Eighty-two percent of China's ODI went to energy industries in 2009, but the proportion fell to 60 percent in the first half of this year.

However, outbound investment in the agriculture and technology sectors, which accounted for just 2 percent of total ODI in 2009, jumped to 17 percent in the first half, according to the report.

Many Chinese companies polled in the survey said they may take advantage of European economic woes by acquiring undervalued assets.

Thirty percent of companies polled pointed to Western Europe as their top investment destination, while 22 percent of companies saw the United States and Canada as best places to invest.