China's overseas investments more than double in first half: govt

China's overseas investment more than doubled in the first half of 2008, the government said Thursday, as the energy-hungry nation sought to secure resources globally to fuel its economic boom.

Non-financial direct outward investment hit 25.7 billion dollars in the first six months of the year, 2.3 times the level recorded in the same period last year.

The figure stood at 18.7 billion dollars for the full year of 2007, government data showed.

With forex reserves of 1.8 trillion dollars and growing, the Asian giant is keenly looking abroad to acquire resources to fuel an economy that has maintained double-digit growth in five consecutive years.

In February, the state-controlled aluminium company Chinalco, combined with US-based Alcoa, bought a nine percent stake in Australia's Rio Tinto for 14 billion dollars. Chinalco's contribution was the largest overseas investment ever made by a Chinese firm.

The government announced earlier this month that foreign direct investment into China grew by 45.6 percent in the first half to 52.4 billion dollars.

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