Foreign direct investment fall in China

BEIJING: Foreign direct investment in China dropped 35.7 percent year-on-year in July for the 10th straight monthly fall, the commerce ministry said Monday.

China attracted a total of 5.36 billion dollars in foreign investment last month, ministry spokesman Yao Jian told reporters.

The decline compared with a fall of 6.8 percent in June from the same month in 2008, according to previously released statistics.

Foreign direct investment in the first seven months was down 20.3 percent over the same period last year to 48.3 billion dollars, the spokesman said.