China's FDI up 18.57% in first seven months

China's foreign direct investment (FDI) rose by 18.57 percent year on year to 69.19 billion U.S. dollars in the first seven months of the year, the Ministry of Commerce(MOC) said Tuesday. In July alone, a total of 8.297 billion U.S. dollars of FDI was brought to China, up 19.83 percent year on year, said the ministry in a statement on its website. This compares to a 2.83 percent year on year growth in June. China approved the establishment of 15,600 foreign-invested companies during the Jan.-July period, up 7.89 percent year on year, according to the MOC. In July alone, China approved 2,138 foreign-invested companies to start business operations, an increase of 2.69 percent from the same month last year.