Foreign direct investment (FDI) dropped by 36.52 percent year-on-year in November to US$5.3 billion, down from US$6.72 billion in October, the Ministry of Commerce said on Wednesday.

Figures for the first 11 months showed a slowdown in the FDI growth to 26.29 percent year-on-year. In the first six months of 2008, the rate was 45.6 percent.

Many experts estimate that the FDI will continue to fall in coming months reflecting investors' growing concern about the global economic uncertainties. The figures show that the fall in FDI has come earlier than expected.

(China Daily December 11, 2008)