BEIJING, Aug 17 (Reuters) - China drew $48.3 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first seven months of the year, 20.3 percent less than in the same period in 2008, the Commerce Ministry said on Monday.
That compared with a 17.9 percent fall in the first six months.
Ministry spokesman Yao Jian released the figure at a news conference.
In July alone, China attracted $5.36 billion in FDI, down 35.7 percent from a year earlier.
That marked the tenth straight month that FDI has fallen from year-earlier levels, and the pace of decline was much faster than in June, when inflows were down 6.8 percent.
Yao said he expected the fall in China's exports so far this year to moderate over the rest of 2009, and some months could see positive year-on-year growth in exports.
China attracted a record $92.4 billion in non-financial FDI in 2008, an increase of 23.6 percent from 2007.
Inflows surged in the years after the country joined the World Trade Organisation in 2001 but have weakened in recent months as the global economic slowdown has hit investment flows.
China's foreign direct investment (in $ billion): ________________2009_____________ _____________2008____________ Jul Jun May Apr Mar Feb Jan Dec Nov Oct Sep Aug Jul 5.4 9.0 6.4 5.9 8.4 5.8 7.5 6.0 5.3 6.7 6.6 7.0 8.3
Totals excludes investments in the financial sector. Some of the monthly figures are calculated based on cumulative data. (Reporting by Langi Chiang and Alan Wheatley; Editing by Ken Wills)