FDI registers healthy growth

A group of 10 Asian economies, including Japan and South Korea, accounted for the bulk of the FDI at $16.94 billion, up 11.6 percent.

South Korea's investment in China soared 223.6 percent to $834 million in the period. In contrast, Japan's investment plunged 43.6 percent to $716 million.

Huo said that the acceleration of negotiations on a China-South Korea free trade agreement boosted South Korean FDI, while continued political tensions with Japan dampened FDI from that nation.

Investment grew quickly in China's inland regions. FDI in the central region surged 75 percent to $2.62 billion, accounting for 13.6 percent of the total.

In the western region, FDI expanded 29 percent to $1.39 billion, about 7.2 percent of the total.

The bulk of FDI continued to flow into the eastern region, which totaled $15.3 billion, up 2.6 percent.

Better infrastructure and improved government services are helping inland regions draw more FDI, Wang said.

Outward direct investment contracted 37.2 percent to $11.54 billion in the first two months. Investment headed to Hong Kong tumbled 63 percent, while that to the EU sank 11.6 percent.

Shen said that outbound FDI figures were affected by a high base of comparison. In the same period last year, China National Offshore Oil Corp closed its $15 billion takeover of Canada's Nexen. Had that transaction been excluded, the FDI figure would have been up 33.6 percent, he said.

Starting this year, China has released yuan-denominated trade and investment statistics in addition to those expressed in dollars.

Shen said that the move was intended to follow international practice and reflect market demand.

China's FDI up 10.44% in January-February	China's FDI rose 16.11% in January