China has recalculated its outbound direct investment (ODI) to $123.12 billion in 2014, up 14.2 percent year on year in a leap even more impressive than previously estimated, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said on Thursday.

It was the third consecutive year for China to register the most ODI across the world, said Zhang Xiangchen, vice negotiation representative for international trade of the MOC at a press conference.

The latest data were jointly collected and processed by the MOC, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

China only started such calculation in 2002 and publicized the data in 2004.

From 2002 to this year, the three departments have changed their calculation methods for six times to introduce more international standards, said Jia Nan, deputy head of the NBS.

The latest data was different from the release earlier this year. In January, the MOC announced that China's ODI rose 14.1 percent year on year to $102.89 billion in 2014.

Since China began to issue ODI figures, data has been expanding and the annual growth rate averaged 37.5 percent, Zhang said.

China has been facilitating outbound investment by cutting red tape to encourage enterprises to go overseas, he said.

The country will also provide more credit support for those engaged in the Belt and Road Initiative.

China's investment to countries along the Belt and Road top $13.66 billion in 2014, about 11.1 percent of its total ODI, Zhang said.

(Xinhua News Agency September 17, 2015)