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By Langi Chiang
BEIJING, Feb 16 (Reuters) - China drew $7.54 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in January, 32.6 percent less than a year earlier, the fourth straight month of an annual decline.
However, Commerce Ministry spokesman Yao Jian cautioned against reading too much into the year-on-year fall, saying it was due in part to distortions caused by the timing of the Chinese New Year, which fell in February last year but in January this year.
"FDI fell in January due to the global financial crisis, the abnormal year-on-year increase in January last year as well as the Spring Festival," Yao told a news conference.
He noted that the figure was basically equal to the average monthly FDI inflow of $7.7 billion last year, and that it was higher than the average inflow of $6.2 billion in the few months after the deepening of the global financial crisis last September.
China attracted a record $92.4 billion in non-financial FDI in 2008, an increase of 23.6 percent from 2007.
In addition, it drew $15.9 billion in financial FDI last year, an increase of 68.4 percent, as Beijing approved the establishment of 23 financial institutions, Yao said.
The combined 2008 total of financial and non-financial FDI inflows, $108.3 billion, was up 29.7 percent from the year before.
Inflows have surged since China joined the World Trade Organisation in 2001, although economists expect the pace to slacken this year as companies scale back investment plans due to the global economic slump. (Editing by Kim Coghill)