Foreign direct investment (FDI) into China jumped more than 10 percent year-on-year in April, the commerce ministry said Friday, accelerating significantly from previous months despite slowing growth in the world's second-largest economy. FDI, which excludes financial sectors, rose 10.5 percent to $9.61 billion, the ministry said, after rises of 2.2 percent in March and only 0.9 percent in February.
For the first four months of the year, it increased 11.1 percent to $44.49 billion, the ministry said, describing it as "stable" in a statement. "Investment in the service sector increased rapidly," ministry spokesman Shen Danyang told reporters. China's service industries saw FDI rise 24.8 percent year-on-year in the first four months, contrasting with a 5.4 percent fall in manufacturing investment.
In the January-April period, investment from the 28-member European Union rose 22.2 percent to $2.52 billion. But from Japan it fell 7.8 percent to $1.44 billion, and from the US it slumped 28.4 percent to $880 million. China drew a total of $119.6 billion of FDI in 2014, up 1.7 percent, while overseas direct investment (ODI) surged to $102.9 billion, rising 14.1 percent and passing the $100 billion mark for the first time as Chinese companies look elsewhere with the domestic economy slowing.