China says foreign direct investment up 20.7 pc

BEIJING: Foreign direct investment in China rose 20.7 percent on year in the first seven months of 2010, the government said Tuesday, underlining growing confidence in the world's third largest economy.

Foreign companies pumped 58.4 billion dollars into China in the January-July period, commerce ministry spokesman Yao Jian told reporters at a regular briefing.

That marked an acceleration from the 19.6 percent growth logged in the first half of the year, and the 14.3 percent growth from January to May.

In July alone, foreign direct investment totalled 6.9 billion dollars, a jump of 29.2 percent over the same month in 2009, Yao said.

The data includes investment by overseas companies in industries such as manufacturing, real estate and agriculture but excludes money put into banks and other financial institutions.