China's August FDI Hits $7.602 Bln

BEIJING, Aug. 16 -- The amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) China received in August rose by 1.38 percent to 7.602 billion U.S. dollars, said Yao Jian, spokesman with the Ministry of Commerce (MOC), at a press conference on Wednesday.

The August figure brought the FDI inflow to China in the first eight months to about 65.96 billion U.S. dollars, up 18 percent from the same period last year.

In the first seven months, the country's FDI rose 20.65 percent to 58.35 billion U.S. dollars. In July alone, the FDI increased 29.2 percent to 6.924 billion U.S. dollars, according to the MOC.

China's above-8-percent GDP growth was attractive to foreign investors despite that the country is restructuring its economy, said Lu Zhengwei, an economist with Industrial Bank Co. Ltd.

The country is revising the Directive Catalogue of Industries for Foreign Investment to improve the structure of foreign investment, said Liu Yajun, an official with the MOC, earlier this month.

Industries encouraged by the government include new energy, new materials, bio-medicine, high-end manufacturing, and IT, said Liu.

Transnational companies in China are encouraged to set up research and development centers and extend their industry chains in the country, he added.