BEIJING -- China's outbound direct investment in the non-financial sector hit $35.42 billion in the first half of 2012, up 48.2 percent year-on-year, the Ministry of Commerce said Tuesday.

Total ODI in the non-financial sector had amounted to $357.5 billion by the end of June, MOC spokesman Shen Danyang said at a news briefing.

Domestic investors have invested in 2,163 overseas companies in 116 countries and regions in the first six months, Shen said.

Of all Chinese first-half ODI, about 33.3 percent, worth $11.8 billion, went into mergers and acquisitions.

China's ODI soared in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the United States and Russia in the first half, with growth rates rising 58.9 percent, 34.3 percent, 28.2 percent and 20.3 percent, relatively, according to Shen.

The provinces of Guangdong, Shandong, Hunan, Gansu and Jiangsu were the most active investors in the first half, the spokesman added.