China's foreign direct investment in September rose 4.88 percent from a year earlier to $8.84 billion, higher than the 0.62-percent growth in August, the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday.

In the January-September period, FDI in China increased 6.22 percent from a year earlier to $88.6 billion, compared with the 6.37-percent gain in the first eight months of this year.

China's non-financial outward direct investment surged 17.4 percent from a year earlier to $61.64 billion in the January-September period, according to the ministry.