China's foreign direct investment in October went up 1.2 percent from a year earlier to $8.4 billion, the Ministry of Commerce said Tuesday.

The first 10 months of this year saw FDI inflow rise 5.8 percent year-on-year to $97 billion, the ministry said. But the number of new enterprises established by foreign investment declined 9.2 percent year-on-year to 18,184.

In the January-October period, investment from 10 Asian economies increased 7.2 percent year-on-year to $83.6 billion, and spending from the United States went up 12.4 percent to $3 billion. Investment from the European Union surged 22.3 percent year-on-year to $6.4 billion, the ministry said.