China's Ministry of Commerce said Monday the amount of used foreign direct investment (FDI) fell 20.4 percent year on year in the first five months in China.

The January-May figure was 34.05 billion U.S. dollars, said ministry spokesman Yao Jian.

In May, FDI fell 17.8 percent to 6.38 billion U.S. dollars, the eighth straight monthly fall, Yao said.

The drastic change in the world economy pushed companies to cut spending, and was the main reason for the continuous decline of FDI in China, the ministry said in a statement on its website Monday.

In 2008, foreign-invested businesses contributed 29.7 percent of the country's industrial output, 21 percent of tax revenue, 55.3 percent of exports and 54.7 percent of imports. It also created jobs for 45 million people, said the ministry.

"China's economy is facing great uncertainties both at home and abroad, and it is difficult to see growth of foreign direct investment in a short time," said the statement.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said, during a tour in Hunan Province on June 12 and 13, that the foundation was not solid enough to bring the economy to a recovery in China as the outlook of the world economy was still unclear and external demand continued to shrink.

The statement said China will further open the domestic market and further simplify procedures for foreign investment. China will seek to attract foreign investment to high-tech sectors, energy-efficient and environment-friendly sectors, the service industry and the central and western regions.

Yao also said at the news briefing that the Chinese mainland would send purchasing delegations to Taiwan in the early July.

(Xinhua News Agency June 15, 2009)