China FDI growth slows in April

Foreign direct investments in China grew 0.4 percent year-on-year in April, much slower than in the previous two months, the Commerce Ministry said Thursday. FDI inflows in April totaled $8.44 billion. They had risen 5.65 percent year-on-year in March to $12.4 billion and 6.32 percent in February to $8.21 billion. Those increases came after declining for eight consecutive months. The ministry gave no explanation for the slower FDI growth in April. "We expect FDI to grow steadily this year," spokesman Shen Danyang said, China's official Xinhua News reported. In the first four months of this year, FDI inflows were up 1.21 percent year on year to $38.34 billion, the ministry said. The ministry said services saw a steady increase of FDI inflows in the first four months, up 6.87 percent, accounting for 49.36 percent of the total FDI inflow during the four-month period. FDIs in the manufacturing sector were down 3.83 percent during the same period, accounting for 42.7 percent of the total inflow. For all of last year, FDIs totaled $111.72 billion, down 3.7 percent from 2011.