China reports increase in foreign direct investment in October

BEIJING - Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Chinese mainland rose 5 percent year on year to reach 60.12 billion yuan ($9.05 billion) last month, data showed Tuesday.

The growth slowed down in comparison with September when the country's FDI rose 17.3 percent, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce.

In the first 10 months, the country's FDI hit 678.7 billion yuan, up 1.9 percent from the same period a year ago and higher than the 1.6-percent increase for January-September period.

FDI in the manufacturing sector continued to grow while high-tech manufacturing and service industries maintained strong growth.

From January to October, the manufacturing sector attracted FDI worth 195.91 billion yuan, up 6.1 percent year on year, accounting for 28.9 percent of the total FDI.

The service sector drew 470.52 billion yuan, or 69.3 percent of the total. FDI in production and supply of power, gas and water rose 74.3 percent year on year.

Some 56.65 billion yuan flowed into the high-tech manufacturing sector, an increase of 22.9 percent year on year.

The high-tech service industry actually used 95.01 billion yuan in FDI, up 20 percent year on year.

FDI into central China registered rapid growth in the first 10 months with total volume up 47.9 percent year on year to 50.6 billion yuan.

Analysts attributed the fast FDI growth to effective policy that has boosted the confidence of foreign investors, as well as the accelerated process of industrial restructuring.

The country rolled out specific measures Friday in latest move to ease or lift foreign investment restrictions in its financial markets. For example, foreign businesses will be allowed to own up to 51 percent of shares in joint ventures in securities, funds or futures, and the cap will be phased out over three years.