(Yicai Global) Feb. 14 -- China's non-financial outbound direct investment rose for a third consecutive month in January, jumping nearly 40 percent from a year earlier, partly because of spending targeted at countries that have signed up to Beijing's multi-billion-dollar Belt and Road development initiative.

Investment climbed to USD10.8 billion last month, financial news site CNStock reported, citing the latest commerce ministry figures. Chinese companies hiked project funding 50 percent to USD1.23 billion in 46 countries on the Belt and Road route, representing 11.4 percent of all non-financial ODI in the month.

Often compared with the ancient Silk Road, the Belt and Road initiative was proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013. It is a grand 30- to 40-year plan for a vast infrastructure and trade route boasting a major network of railroads, highways, ports and pipelines embracing the continents of Asia, Europe and Africa. The most popular destinations for corporate investments along the route last month were Singapore, Malaysia, Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

No new ODI projects were reported in the fields of real estate, sports and entertainment, though overseas mining projects grew rapidly to USD3.75 billion, representing an eight-fold expansion, said Han Yong, an official at the commerce ministry.