BEIJING - China's foreign direct investment (FDI) rose by 18.4 percent year-on-year to $60.89 billion in the first half of this year, Yao Jian, spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said on Friday.

In June alone, China's FDI rose 2.83 percent from one year earlier to $12.86 billion, Yao said at a regular press conference.

The growth rate had slowed for three consecutive months, and the June figure was 10.3 percentage points lower than that of May.

China approved 2,919 foreign-invested companies to start business operations in June, up 6.57 percent from the same month last year.

A total of 13,462 foreign firms received approvals to start operations in the first half, up 8.77 percent year-on-year, he said.