Foreign direct investment (FDI) in China posted a decline of 20.6 percent year-on-year in the first quarter to US$21.78 billion, the Ministry of Commerce announced on Wednesday.

In March, FDI was US$8.4 billion, down 9.5 percent from a year earlier, ministry spokesman Yao Jian said at a news conference.

The fall was the sixth consecutive month that FDI has dropped. But the data show an improvement from the 15.81 percent drop in February and 32.67 percent drop in January.

(Xinhua News Agency April 15, 2009)