The number of Chinese companies investing in President Xi Jinping's signature foreign-policy initiative--a massive infrastructure project known as One Belt, One Road--will grow in coming years, a top economic planner said.

In 2016, Chinese companies invested a total of $170.1 billion overseas outside the financial sector, but only 8.5% of that was in countries along the "belt-and-road" routes linking Asia to Europe and Africa, official data showed.

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The country's outbound direct investment is estimated to top $120 billion or $130 billion each year over the next five years, said Ning Jizhe, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission, at a briefing Friday.

"A significant portion of that will be landed in nations along the One Belt, One Road," he said.

Leaders from around 30 countries are scheduled to gather in Beijing to attend a One Belt, One Road summit that starts Sunday.

--Pei Li

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 12, 2017 00:39 ET (04:39 GMT)