BEIJING - Chinese outbound investment has become more rational, dropping 42.9 percent in the first half of this year, a senior official said Monday.

In the first six months, the country's outbound direct investment (ODI) stood at 331.1 billion yuan ($49.4 billion), as authorities managed to contain irrational ODI, Qian Keming, vice minister of commerce, said at a press conference.

ODI in countries and regions along the Belt and Road routes slid just 3.6 percent, according to Qian.

Enterprises paid more attention to physical investment as the declines in overseas manufacturing industries was smaller compared to those in property, culture, sports and entertainment sectors, Qian said.

A group of merger and acquisition projects, including some large ones, were carried out smoothly, he said, adding that projects with foreign contact reported 462.2 billion yuan in their first half turnover, up 7.2 percent year on year.

Since late 2016, the Ministry of Commerce worked together with other departments to reinforce inspections of authenticity and regulation compliance of outbound investment, which helped optimize investment structure.

Outbound investment in real estate, hotels, cinemas, entertainment and sports clubs saw substantial declines during the period, according to the ministry.

Although the total ODI went down, the June figure offered some relief.

In June, outbound investment dropped 11.3 percent year-on-year to $13.6 billion, up 65.5 percent month on month, the highest in seven months, according to figures from the ministry.