Shen Danyang, spokesman of the Ministry of Commerce (MOC), speaks during a press conference of MOC in Beijing, capital of China, July 17, 2013. China's foreign direct investment (FDI) jumped surprisingly in June, soaring 20.12 percent from a year earlier to 14.39 billion U.S. dollars, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) announced on Wednesday. [Photo: Xinhua/Shi Yangkun]

 

　　Foreign direct investment (FDI) into China in June has grown at its fastest pace in more than two years.

 

　　Investment has increased over 20 percent from a year earlier despite a general slowdown in the world's second biggest economy.

 

　　CRI's Zhang Shuangfeng has more.

 

　　The 20 percent increase came as a surprise as it marks a significant surge from the 0.29-percent year-on-year increase in May.

 

　　But Shen Dan Yang, a spokesman of the Ministry of Commerce cautioned the upbeat figure didn't represent a rebound.

 

　　"We can not conclude that China's FDI has rebounded by simply looking at just a single month's data. But we do expect the FDI in the second half to grow steadily."

 

　　Though June's upsurge follows four straight months' growth since February, the total FDI in the first half of this year only increased 4.9 percent year on year.

 

　　The establishment of foreign-invested enterprises also failed to pick up steam during the period, as the number of such companies decreased 9.1 percent from a year earlier.

 

　　The spokesman added however, that the investments which arrived this year did see a move towards better utilization.

 

　　"The FDI increase proved the competitiveness of the Chinese economy and international investors' recognition of the investment environment in China."

 

　　Nearly half of new FDI in the first six months went to the service sector, which saw a year-on-year increase of 12.4 percent.

 

　　While the traditional manufacturing sector attracted only 42 percent of total inflows, down 2.1 percent from last year.

 

　　In a regional breakdown, China's western regions saw strong growth in foreign investment, with an increase of 32.5 percent, compared with a 15.7-percent gain for central regions and a 1.7-percent gain for the east.

 

　　Meanwhile, China's outbound investment rose 29-percent year on year in the first six months.

 

　　Shen Danyang said the increase was matched with an improved efficiency and better investment structure of Chinese enterprises going overseas.

 

　　"More and more Chinese investment overseas are bearing fruit, which boosted companies' confidence to explore new territories for growth. Chinese companies are now fast becoming a competitive force with increasing foreign recognition."

 

　　Data from the Ministry of Commerce also shows Chinese outbound investment is now favoring commercial service, retail and wholesale sectors over traditional manufacturing and mining sectors.

 

　　For CRI, I'm Zhang Shuangfeng