BEIJING, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Chinese mainland fell 10.8 percent year on year in the first three months of 2020 influenced by the novel coronavirus outbreak, a commerce official said Wednesday.
The FDI totaled 216.19 billion yuan (about 31.2 billion U.S. dollars) in Jan.-March period, said the Ministry of Commerce.
A breakdown of the data showed FDI decreased 14.1 percent year on year in March but the decline was 11.5 percentage points narrower than that in February.
Foreign investment in high-tech services surged 15.5 percent year on year in the first three months, accounting for 29.9 percent of the service sector.
China will seek further opening-up and upgrade of foreign trade and investment, to offset its economic shock brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the ministry earlier.
To facilitate foreign investment, China will shorten the negative list on foreign investment, further open up the service sector and improve China's business environment.
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