HOHHOT, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- China's direct investment overseas will grow by 60 billion U.S. dollars from 2006 to 2010, according to forecasts by experts and officials.

    Zheng Chao, an official of foreign cooperation with the Ministry of Commerce, said China has a good opportunity to increase its investment overseas, backed up by fast economic growth and a healthy global economy.

    China has maintained robust momentum in economic development and foreign trade and it has also seen a rapid increase in the amount of overseas funds and foreign currency reserves, Zheng said.

    China registered an economic growth rate of 10.9 percent in the first half of this year, and it conducted foreign trade worth 795.7 billion U.S. dollars, up 23.4 percent on the previous year. China's total foreign currency reserves reached 941 billion U.S. dollars in the first half of this year, 35 percent of the national GDP and the highest in the world.

    China has intensified the readjustment of its economic structure and improved its policies encouraging Chinese enterprises to invest overseas, Zheng said. China has developed a group of industries and products which are competitive on the global market, he added.

    China's direct investment overseas hit a new high of 12.26 billion U.S. dollars in 2005, exceeding 10 billion dollars for the first time, the Ministry of Commerce said Monday. Enditem