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(Beijing) – Chinese investors looked overseas for opportunities in the property market last year amid a downturn back home. Investors spent a China record US$ 16.5 billion on foreign properties last year, 46 percent more than they did a year earlier, according to a recent report from Jones Lang LaSalle, a real estate service and investment company in Chicago. Investment in overseas commercial properties also reached a new high of US$ 11.2 billion, up by half from 2013. Europe was still the most attractive destination for Chinese investors, and Australia also got more popular, surpassing the United States for the second spot. Chinese investments in overseas properties will continue to soar this year, Jones Lang LaSalle predicted, exceeding US$ 20 billion.