Foreign direct investment in China rose 12 percent to $15.9 billion in the first quarter as the attractions of low manufacturing costs and the world's biggest pool of consumers outweighed pending tax increases.

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The Ministry of Commerce gave the figures on its Web site. At that pace, investment may match or top last year's record of $63 billion.

Higher taxes for foreign companies will be phased in over five years from January. That hasn't deterred Anheuser-Busch Cos., the world's second-biggest brewer, from expanding its manufacturing operations to try to sell more Budweiser and Harbin beer in China. Disposable incomes are rising more than 10 percent a year in the country of 1.3 billion people.

Foreign companies increasingly view China "as a market, instead of just a production base," Ha Jiming, chief economist at China International Capital Corp., an investment bank, said in Beijing. "They're attracted by rising purchasing power."

China's economy last year grew 10.7 percent, the fastest pace in 11 years. Foreign direct investment rose 4.5 percent, helping to boost the country's currency reserves to a world record $1 trillion.

New York-based PepsiCo Inc., the world's second-largest soft-drink maker, and its partners plan to double their China workforce to 30,000 people over five years, chief executive officer Indra Nooyi said last week.

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