Foreign direct investment (FDI) in China dropped 32.6% year-on-year to US$7.54 billion in January, on the back of the global economic slowdown and slow economic activity during the Lunar New Year holiday, the South China Morning Post reported. January’s drop in FDI marked the fourth month of consecutive decline for foreign investment in China. FDI dropped by 5.7% in December, 36.52% in January and less than 1% in October, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce. A ministry spokesman said that a high base figure in January of last year also contributed to the last month’s drop. FDI in 2008 grew by 29.7% to US$108.3 billion, with an average monthly investment of US$7.69 billion.