SINGAPORE - The United States and Singapore were once again the most attractive destinations for Chinese outbound investment last year, holding their spots in first and second place respectively.

The 2015 China Going Global Index, published by the Economist Intelligence Unit, ranks the attractiveness of 67 major economies to Chinese firms.

The rankings are based on 70 indicators spanning areas such as agriculture, overseas contracted projects, quality of infrastructure, service industry and country credit risk.

Australia came in thrid this year, followed by Canada, then Switzerland.

Ms Yue Su, deputy economist of EIU Access China said: "For Chinese outbound investment to keep up its momentum, firms will need to approach investment in a more sophisticated manner."

"In the past, Chinese investment exhibited a strong pro-cyclical pattern-firms bought natural resources when its economy was growing fast and, as a result, they found themselves often paying peak prices for commodities. A counter-cyclical approach and long-term thinking will be the key to success for future outbound investment."