Similarly gratifying, outstanding foreign exchange deposits stood at US$145.54 billion by the end of August, an increase of US$1.14 billion over the July figure and 3.7 percent more than the figure for the same period last year.

Actual FDI hit US$34.44 billion in the first eight months of the year, up 25.5 percent from figures for the same period of the previous year, the Foreign Trade Ministry said Friday.

Contracted FDI, an indicator of future trends, rose 42.4 percent year-on-year for the January to August period to US$62.3 billion.

Some 2.944 foreign-funded projects were approved in August. The actual use of foreign investment reached US$4.9 billion in August, compared to US$4.96 billion in July and US$3.23 billion for the same month a year earlier.

Contracted investment last month totaled US$7.95 billion, compared to US$10.36 billion in July and US$3.46 billion for the same period a year earlier.

A total number of 411,495 foreign-funded companies had been approved in China by August with a contracted investment of US$807.6 billion and an actual investment of US$429.7 billion.

The foreign trade volume, another important indicator of China's foreign economy, reached US$383.5 billion in the first eight months, the General Administration of Customs said.

Exports rose 18 percent for January to August period over figures for the same period a year earlier, buoyed by a steady growth in machinery and electronics exports.

China Customs said the country had a trade surplus of US$17.9 billion in the first eight months of this year compared with US$11.45 billion for the same period a year earlier.

Exports for the first eight months totaled US$200.7 billion while imports grew 15 percent to US$182.8 billion, it said.

Exports in August surged 25 percent year-on-year, weaker than the hot 28.1 percent jump posted in July.

But drops in imports of oil products and soybeans helped boost the trade surplus to US$2.2 billion.

The surplus swelled from US$1.38 billion a year earlier.

August exports hit US$29.4 billion, while imports rose 23 percent year on year to US$27.2 billion for the month, customs said.

Statistics released Friday by the People's Bank of China show corporate forex deposits accounted for US$49.1 billion of the total foreign exchange deposits, while foreign exchange savings deposits were US$87.47 billion. In the first eight months, foreign exchange savings deposits increased by US$5.9 billion.

At the same time, the outstanding foreign exchange loans increased US$4.85 billion since the end of last year to reach US$98.58 billion, of which short-term loans accounted for US$30.1 billion while mid- and long-term loans stood at US$33.87 billion.

(China Daily September 14, 2002)