China's overseas contractual projects stood at US$7.96 billion in the first two months of 2009, Ministry of Commerce (MOC) spokesman Yao Jian said Monday.

The figure was up 24.8 percent year-on-year despite the world economic downturn, Yao said.

He said Chinese companies had become more experienced in investing in overseas projects.

Many companies expanded their target markets from the European Union and the United States to developing countries in Africa and Latin America, he said. Also, many companies shifted from labor-intensive sectors to technology-intensive industries, such as electric power, oil refining, telecommunications and metallurgy.

(Xinhua News Agency March 16, 2009)