BEIJING, June 26 (Xinhua) -- China's non-financial outbound direct investment (ODI) rose 2.3 percent year on year in the first five months this year, official data showed Thursday.

Total non-financial ODI of the country amounted to 61.6 billion U.S. dollars during the period, according to the data released by the Ministry of Commerce.

During the first five months, China's non-financial ODI in countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) reached 15.52 billion U.S. dollars, a 20.8-percent increase compared to the same period in the previous year.

During the period, the turnover of contracted overseas projects by Chinese companies amounted to 61.94 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 5.4 percent year on year, and the value of newly signed contracts rose 13 percent year on year to 98.68 billion U.S. dollars, the ministry's spokesperson He Yadong said at a press conference.

The turnover of contracted overseas projects by Chinese companies in BRI partner countries rose 3.9 percent year on year in the first five months to 50.59 billion U.S. dollars, He added.

At the press conference, He also revealed that as of June 24, China had held 225 promotion events with the theme of "foreign trade premium products China tour," engaging over 19,000 foreign trade enterprises and purchasers, with a total transaction volume of 24.8 billion yuan (3.46 billion U.S. dollars).

More than 330 such events are planned for the second half of the year, the spokesperson said. Enditem