BEIJING - China's non-financial outbound direct investment (ODI) rose 6.1 percent year on year in December, slowing from a 12.6 percent increase in November, data from the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) showed Wednesday.

China brought in 86.5 billion yuan ($13.89 billion) of ODI in December, MOC spokesperson Shen Danyang said at a press conference.

ODI for 2015 hit an all time high of $118 billion, with investment in ASEAN member countries and the United States soaring more than 60 percent year on year, Shen said.

Direct investment in 49 countries along the Belt and Road route rose 18.2 percent in 2015, accounting for 12.6 percent of the total.

Despite the global economic downturn, Chinese companies remained active in overseas mergers and acquisitions (M&A) last year, which have become a key mode of overseas investment, Shen told reporters.

Chinese firms carried out 593 M&A deals worth $40.1 billion in 2015, Shen said.

He cited the purchase of a nearly 60-percent stake in Italian tire maker Pirelli by China National Tire & Rubber Co, Ltd as the biggest outbound acquisition by a Chinese firm in 2015.

Last year, China signed $210 billion of contracted projects overseas, up 9.5 percent year on year, with 44 percent of the deals inked with 60 countries along the Belt and Road route, according to Shen.