China sees spike in inbound, outbound investments

China saw a surge of foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country last month as investments in the service industry gained steam and Chinese firms going global led to a spike in outbound direct investment (ODI).

FDI in the Chinese mainland jumped 29.4 percent in January from a year earlier, settling at 13.92 billion U.S. dollars. The pace of growth quickened from a 1.7-percent uptick in 2014, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said on Monday.

A total of 9.18 billion dollars, around 66 percent of the FDI, went into China's service sector last month, with the financial service industry seeing the biggest jump. The value represented an increase of 45.1 percent from the previous year, said MOC spokesman Shen Danyang.

Boosted by investments in the high-end manufacturing industry, combined FDI flowing into the manufacturing sector reached 3.95 billion dollars, accounting for 28.4 percent of the total, he added.

Last month also witnessed a spike of newly registered foreign-funded companies, with 2,266 such companies being set up, 31.8 percent more than a year ago.

Investments from China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), the Republic of Korea, Germany, Britain and Sweden all saw fast expansion, he said.

Investments from Japan reversed a declining trend from last year to post solid growth in January, with newly registered businesses by Japanese investors in China and FDI from Japan edging up 3.5 percent and 3.2 percent from a year ago, respectively.

"China was the world's top FDI destination in 2014, which is a testimony to its great growth potential, sound infrastructure and good investment environment," Shen told reporters, predicting FDI flowing into China will remain stable despite anemic global economic recovery.

"We are not sure whether China can continue to be the world's top FDI host economy in 2015, but we are confident that China will be one of the top global FDI destinations this year," said Shen, adding that China will enhance transparency and convenience of its investment environment.

Monday's data also showed China's outbound direct investment (ODI) by non-financial firms surged 40.6 percent to 10.17 billion dollars in January, with Hong Kong SAR, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and European Union as top investment destinations.

China has become a net capital exporter for the first time, with ODI outnumbering capital inflows in 2014.

The stronger-than-expected FDI and ODI data came after a string of figures pointed to weakening economic growth momentum in the world's second largest economy.