China says foreign direct investment uptick continues

BEIJING: Foreign direct investment in China rose 7.9 percent year-on-year in October, the government said Tuesday, indicating confidence in the nation's economy continued to improve after a slight lull.

China attracted 7.66 billion dollars in foreign investment last month, commerce ministry spokesman Yao Jian told reporters.

Foreign investment had slowed sharply in August, rising just 1.4 percent year-on-year compared with an increase of 29.2 percent in July and 39.6 percent in June. But in September it picked up again, increasing 6.1 percent year-on-year.

Yao said foreign companies pumped 82 billion dollars into China in the first 10 months of the year, up 15.7 percent from the same period last year. He pointed out that expansion of the nation's domestic market was among the factors lifting FDI.

"Foreign investment is shifting from export-oriented sectors to the domestic market and from manufacturing to service industries," he 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.