In the first half of this year, China's outbound direct investment in nonfinancial sectors fell 45.8 percent year-on-year to $48.19 billion, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) on Thursday.
Gao Feng, spokesman of the ministry, told a press conference that "China's stable and improved economic growth in the first six months helped strengthen domestic investors' confidence that more capital stayed in the country."
Moreover, uncertainties increased in the global environment, such as frequent regional conflicts, expanding terrorism and tightened regulation on foreign capital in some countries and regions, Gao said. "Those factors actually hindered China's investment in overseas markets."
Since the end of 2016, Chinese authorities tightened scrutiny of domestic companies' foreign investment to determine whether it was authentic or complied with certain rules, Gao noted.
As a result, some irrational outbound investment has been effectively curbed as China's foreign investment in industries like property, hotels, cinemas and entertainment tumbled, according to Gao.
