In the first eight months of 2010, foreign direct investment in China rose 18.1%, the government said on Sept. 15.
Foreign companies pumped $65.95 billion into China. That marked a slight deceleration from the 20.7% growth logged from January to July and the 19.6% increase seen in the first half.
However, that was probably due to a high base of comparison in August 2009, when foreign direct investment rebounded strongly from an earlier period of weakness, said Ren Xianfang, an economist at IHS Global Insight.
For the month of August, foreign direct investment totaled $7.6 billion, up 1.4% over the same month in 2009.
That compares to a jump of 29.2% in July.
Commerce ministry spokesman Yao Jian Ren said, however, the data could signal overseas "uncertainty" that impacts foreign investment. "The uncertainty in external demand will suppress the impulsiveness of foreign investment to enter the Chinese market."
The data includes investment by overseas companies in industries such as manufacturing, real estate and agriculture but excludes money put into banks and other financial institutions.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2010
