FDI into China up 18.9 per cent in September

Foreign direct investment into China rose 18.9 per cent in September compared to the same period last year, which has been one of the factors helping boost the rapid growth of the country's economy.

As foreign investors show their eagerness for investing in the middle kingdom as its economy recovers, China attracted $7.899 billion in foreign investment last month, the Chinese commerce ministry said today.

However, foreign investment in the first nine months of the year was down 14.2 per cent from the same period of 2008 to $63.76 billion.

After foreign investment into China had declined for 10 months due to the global economic turmoil, September's rise was the second consecutive monthly increase of foreign investment into China on a year-on-year basis.

In August, foreign investment into China saw a 7 per cent year-on-year increase, while there was a decline of 35.7 per cent in July and 6.8 per cent in June.

There was a nearly 11 per cent increase in the number of newly approved foreign invested companies in September.

China has been ranked right on top and India at the third place in global foreign direct investments this year by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in a new report on world investment prospects titled, 'World Investment Prospects Survey 2009-2011.'

With the world's third largest economy on the path to recovery, foreign investors expect the yuan to rise, which makes it more attractive for them to invest, thus adding to China's foreign exchange reserves that stood at a record $2.27 trillion at the end of September.