China's September FDI rises 4.88 pct

Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into the Chinese mainland climbed 4.88 percent in September from a year ago, the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday.

September's FDI inflows reached 8.84 billion U.S. dollars, the ministry said, while in the first nine months, FDI totaled 88.6 billion U.S. dollars, up 6.22 percent from the same period of 2012.

The September FDI data was above August's 8.38 billion U.S. dollars, which was up 0.62 percent year on year.

Commerce ministry spokesman Shen Danyang said despite various economic challenges home and abroad, China still had "comprehensive advantages" in attracting foreign investment, and that investors' confidence in the country had not changed.

The ministry data showed FDI from the United States surged 21.3 percent from one year earlier to 2.88 billion U.S. dollars in the first nine months, while investment from the European Union rose 23 percent.

FDI from Japan increased 5.62 percent during the January-September period, while that from 10 Asian nations and regions was up 7.47 percent.

FDI into the service sector gained 13.28 percent year on year to 44.7 billion U.S. dollars in the first nine months. In contrast, the manufacturing sector attracted 35.5 billion U.S. dollars of FDI, down 3.96 percent from a year ago.

In the first nine months, Chinese investment in overseas non-financial sectors rose 17.4 percent year on year to 61.64 billion U.S. dollars, according to the ministry.