FDI into Chinese mainland edges up in June

BEIJING — Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Chinese mainland rose 2.3 percent year on year in June to 100.45 billion yuan ($14.82 billion), the Ministry of Commerce said Thursday.

Last month, 2,894 new foreign-funded companies were established, up 14.3 percent yea on year, according to a statement from the ministry.

In the first half, FDI inflow stood at 441.54 billion yuan, down 0.1 percent year on year, while the number of new foreign-funded companies rose 12.3 percent to 15,053 in the same period.

"The FDI volume was basically stable in the first half, and the structure continued to optimize," said ministry spokesman Gao Feng.

The manufacturing sector attracted 128.6 billion yuan of foreign investment in the first half, up 3 percent year on year and accounting for 29.1 percent of total FDI.

Foreign investment in the service sector reached 309.99 billion yuan, accounting for 70.2 percent of the total.

The trend for the influx of foreign investment into high-end sectors continued, Gao said.

High-tech manufacturing saw FDI rising 11.1 percent to 34.97 billion yuan, while foreign investment into high-tech services surged 20.4 percent to 64.72 billion yuan.

In the first half, non-financial outbound investment made by Chinese companies dropped 45.8 percent year on year to 48.19 billion dollars, mainly due to the improvement in China's economy, rising uncertainties abroad and government measures to curb irrational investment, Gao said.