FDI slips in Jan-Sept as officials warn on exports

China's foreign direct investment inflows fell 3.8 percent in the first nine months of 2012 from a year ago, extending the longest run of declines since the depths of the global financial crisis as stiff economic headwinds diminish corporate spending plans.

The same slowdown in overseas markets led the Ministry of Commerce to warn over the weekend that exports, too, face an uphill battle despite rosier-than-expected September data.

China drew $83.4 billion in foreign direct investment between January and September, with September's inflow alone down 6.8 percent on last year's levels at $8.4 billion, the Commerce Ministry said Friday.

"China's FDI inflows have entered a sort of adjustment period, as the total amount dropped over the past months, but it was only a slight drop," said the ministry spokesman Shen Danyang.

"Meanwhile, the quality and structure of investment inflows have improved; therefore, we can say such an adjustment is normal and positive."

The shrinking FDI figure followed a raft of economic activity indicators released Thursday that pointed to a mild recovery in the growth momentum in September.

China's foreign exchange reserves, the world's largest, rose to $3.29 trillion at the end of September from $3.24 trillion at the end of June.

The official data showed investment inflows from the EU dropped 6.3 percent year-on-year in the first nine months to $4.8 billion, while investment by US firms dropped 0.6 percent to $2.4 billion.