China's overseas direct investment plunged 60% year on year to US$13.3 billion in the first half of this year, said the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Thursday.

Overseas investment from the country's financial and non-financial sectors both declined in the period, reaching US$2 billion and US$12.5 billion, down 51% and 76%, respectively.

The SAFE said that the non-financial ODI mainly went to sectors such as manufacturing, housing, scientific research, technical services, geological prospecting and mining. These sectors received 60% of the non-financial ODI. The top three destinations for non-financial ODI were Asia, Europe and America.

The financial ODI mainly went to well-developed financial markets such as Hong Kong, the U.K. and the U.S.

In the first half, China's foreign direct investment was US$48 billion, down 40% from a year earlier, said the SAFE.

By the end of 2008, China's overseas direct investment had reached US$183.97 billion, according to an earlier report from China Knowledge.