China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) Friday announced that the amount of used foreign direct investment (FDI) fell 21 percent year on year in the first four months.

The figure shrank to 27.67 billion U.S. dollars, said MOC spokesperson Yao Jian.

In April alone, the investment dropped 22.5 percent to 5.89 billion U.S. dollars, the seventh straight monthly fall, said Yao.

The scale of decline narrowed from 32.7 percent in January to 9.5 percent in March.

The number of new foreign-funded ventures also saw a 34.2-percent decline to 6,241 in the first four months, as companies became more prudent about expanding.

As the influence of the global financial crisis rippled from the financial sector to the real economy, foreign investment had been severely affected, said Yao.

The government would take more effective measures to encourage foreign investment, such as streamlining approval procedures, and encouraging and supporting foreign businesses to invest in industrial upgrading and structural adjustment, said Yao.

The drop in foreign direct investment in the manufacturing sector was a mild 12.9 percent, compared with a 31-percent slide in the service sector, said Yao.

(Xinhua News Agency May 15, 2009)