Overseas direct investment in the Chinese mainland surged 49.15 percent in contractual volume in the first quarter of the year, showing China is still a top attraction for foreign capital.

    Figures released by the Ministry of Commerce Tuesday show that while contractual direct investment in the mainland hit 34.278 billion US dollars from January to March, materialized overseas investment reached 14.066 billion US dollars, up 7.49 percent year on year.

    The mainland approved a total of 10,312 new overseas-invested ventures in the three months, up 19.57 percent.

    Top investors to China were Hong Kong, the British Virgin Islands, the Republic of Korea, Japan, the United States and China's Taiwan Province. The top ten poured a total of 86.06 percent of overseas direct investment to the mainland.

    By the end of March, the ministry said, the Chinese mainland approved a total of 476,000 overseas invested firms, involving 977.408 billion US dollars of investment in contractual volume and 515.536 billion US dollars of arrived investment.(Xinhuanet)