A total of $88.6 billion in foreign capital was invested in China during the firstnine months of the year, a year-on-year increase of 6.22 percent, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce on October 17.

From January to September this year, foreign investors established 16,351 new enterprises in China mainland, decreasing 9.29 percent from a year earlier. In September, China's FDI inflows reached $8.84 billion, a year-on-year rise of 4.88 percent, which marks a consecutive rise for eight straight months.

According to the Commerce Ministry, FDI during the first nine months feature the following:

FDI into service maintained growth. From January to September, FDI in China's service sector gained 13.28 percent year on year to $44.7 billion, accounting for 50.5 percent of the overall figure. In contrast, the manufacturing sector attracted $35.5 billion in FDI, down 3.96 percent from a year ago, accounting for 40 percent of total inflow.

FDI from Asia, the EU and the U.S. continued fast growth. During the first nine months, 10 Asian countries invested $76.292 million in China, a year-on-year rise of 7.47 percent. Investment from the United States surged 21.3 percent from one year earlier to $2.88 billion. FDI from 28 European Union countries gained $5.94 billion, up 23 percent from the same period last year.

FDI into China's central and western regions increased faster than eastern regions. In the first nine months, east China attracted $74.2 billion in foreign capital, a year-on-year growth of 5.63 percent. FDI into central regions gained $7.84 billion, up 12.29 percent from a year earlier. And foreign investment in western regions reached $6.6 billion, rising 6.07 percent from the same period last year.