(MENAFN- QNA) Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Chinese mainland dropped 14% in August from a year earlier, settling at 7.2 billion US dollars, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said.
The data, following a 17% slump in July, marked the lowest volume in nearly five years. It is a sign that investors are growing more cautious over the softening strength of the world's second-largest economy, according to China's (Xinhua) News Agency.
For the first eight months, FDI, which excludes investment in the financial sector, stood at 78.34 billion US dollars, down 1.8% from the same period last year, the ministry said.
Around 55% of the FDI went into the country's service sector during the Jan.-Aug. period. FDI into the manufacturing sector dropped 15.7% to 27.5 billion US dollars, accounting for 35% of the total.
FDI from major economies slipped, including a 16.9% drop from the United States and a 17.9% fall from the European Union. Investment from Japan went down 43.3% to 3.16 billion US dollars in the first eight months.
In contrast, China's outbound direct investment by non-financial firms surged 112.1% to 12.62 billion US dollars in August.
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