China's January-September FDI up 9%

Beijing: China received USD 94.9 billion in FDI in the first nine months this year, registering a steady nine percent increase over the same period last year.

Last month, China's FDI inflows stood at USD 9.56 billion, an increase of 7.1 percent year-on-year, Ministry of Commerce (MoC) said today.

The growth slowed markedly from a 22-percent jump in August but was still faster than a 5.2-percent increase in July.

The FDI grew steadily as high-tech industries kept drawing foreign investors, the MoC said.

In the first nine months, FDI, which excludes investment in the financial sector, expanded 9 percent from a year earlier to USD 94.9 billion, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Among all sectors, high-tech services continued to shine, attracting USD 6.16 billion of foreign investment in the first nine months, a 57.6-percent surge year on year.

High-tech manufacturing saw investment inflow accelerate to a 10.4-percent growth during the period, reaching USD seven billion.

FDI in the service sector in general rose 19.2 percent to USD 58 billion while that in manufacturing edged up 0.7 percent to USD 29.8 billion, the MoC said.

More foreign firms invested in China through mergers and acquisitions, which accounted for 16.1 percent of the total FDI in the January-September period, up from 5.8 percent in the same period of last year.