In this aerial drone photo, a fully loaded train leaves Vientiane station in Vientiane, Laos, and heads for Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Aug. 5, 2024. (Photo by Yang Yongquan/Xinhua)

China's investment is playing an increasingly prominent role in promoting economic development worldwide, data from the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) showed on Wednesday.

In 2023, outbound direct investment drove 273.1 billion U.S. dollars of China's import and export of goods, accounting for 4.6 percent of the total value, said Zhang Li, an official with the MOC, while introducing a yearly statistical bulletin.

China's overseas enterprises achieved sales revenue of 3.5 trillion U.S. dollars and paid 75.3 billion U.S. dollars in taxes to the places where they invested last year, said Zhang.

From 2013 to 2023, China's overseas enterprises have paid 518.4 billion U.S. dollars in taxes to host countries, providing about 2 million jobs, he said.

In 2023, China's outbound investment reached 177.29 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 11.4 percent of the global total and ranking among the top three for 12 consecutive years, said Zhang.