FDI grows steadily amid reform drive

In the January-October period, China's non-financial outward direct investment reached $69.5 billion, up 20 percent from a year earlier, according to the ministry.

About 90 percent of that money went into just five industries: commercial services, mining, wholesale and retail, manufacturing and construction.

In the same period, investment to seven destinations - Hong Kong, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the EU, Australia, the US, Russia and Japan - accounted for 70 percent of the total, or $48.9 billion, up 7 year from a year earlier.

Investment in Japan slid 37.3 percent year-on-year while that to Russia surged 858 percent and that in the US was up 227 percent, said the ministry.

A report from the Institute of World Economics and Politics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said on Monday that it's the "best time" for Chinese companies to invest overseas.

The report said that developed economies, despite having strong economic fundamentals and low political risks, will grow slowly in the near future owing to heavy debt burdens.

Despite steady FDI flows into China, Shen expressed caution on near-term export prospects owing to an uncertain recovery of global demand, rising costs in China and intensified global competition.

"In the next two months, as well as in the longer term, China's exports will continue to face difficulties from many sources," Shen said.