The Ministry of Commerce Wednesday said the total volume of Chinese direct investment to foreign countries, excluding investment in the field of finance, reached 29.92 billion US dollars by the end of 2002.

Last year alone, the country's net direct investment to foreign countries totaled 2.7 billion US dollars, according to figures for Chinese direct investment to foreign countries the ministry issued Wednesday.

This is the first such figures are issued.

The figures also show that Chinese enterprises operating overseas reported a sales income of 77.2 billion US dollars in cash last year.