China's FDI dips in July

BEIJING - Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Chinese mainland fell 1.6 percent year on year in July, compared with a 9.7 percent increase in June, according to official data released Friday.

FDI reached 49.76 billion yuan ($7.71 billion) last month, according to figures from the Ministry of Commerce (MOC).

The decline came as a slew of economic indicators showed downward pressure in China's economy.

The country's GDP grew 6.7 percent year on year in Q2, flat with the first quarter. But fixed-asset investment, industrial output and retail sales all slowed in July.

In the first seven months of 2016, FDI rose 4.3 percent year on year, down from 5.1 percent in the first six months.

Services and high-tech manufacturing continued to attract more foreign investment from January to July.

FDI in the service sector went up 7.7 percent year on year, over 70 percent of the total investment, while high-tech manufacturing climbed 1.5 percent.

FDI from the United States surged nearly 130 percent and from both the U.K. and Germany it soared over 96 percent.

Altogether 15,802 new foreign-funded enterprises were established in the country in the first seven months, up 9.7 percent on a year earlier, according to the MOC.