FDI up 18.77% to August

China's actual foreign direct investment grew by 18.77% year-on-year in the first eight months of 2004, bringing in US$43.559 billion, the Ministry of Commerce said. In the same period contracted foreign investment, a measure of future business, increased 38.89% year-on-year to US$93.792. In addition, the ministry said it had approved 28,748 new foreign-invested ventures in the first eight months of the year, a growth of 11.73%. According to the China Daily, based on official information, actual FDI in for August alone was US$5.156 billion, up 55.3% from a year earlier. Analysts said the especially high growth was partially attributable to the low base in August 2003, when investment slumped by 28% in the wake of the SARS outbreak.