Investing In China Increases

China attracted $8.13 billion in actual foreign direct investment in January, up from a year earlier, but down compared with December, according to data issued from the Ministry of Commerce on Saturday.

Actual FDI rose 7.8% in January, increasing year-to-year for the sixth month in a row. It was below the $12.1 billion recorded in December, according to the ministry.

The figures suggest China’s FDI is gradually recovering, but at slowing levels, as the world’s third-largest economy rebounds and global economies stabilize more than a year after the global financial crisis hit.

A low base of comparison has been a factor for the year-to-year growth in China’s FDI in recent months, after it began falling in October 2008 because of the global financial crisis.

Data in the first two months of the year also tend to be distorted by the Lunar New Year holiday. The weeklong holiday fell in January in 2009, resulting in fewer working days in the month, and was in February this year.

The ministry also said China’s outward direct investment, excluding the financial sector, totaled $2.36 billion in January. No comparison figures were given in the ministry’s statement, issued on its Web site.

The ministry’s investment figures didn’t include the financial sector.