FDI flowing to China stood at $83.42 billion from January to September, down 3.8 percent from a year earlier, while September saw China's FDI drop 6.8 percent year-on-year to $8.43 billion, according to the ministry.

Meanwhile, the services sector used nearly $39.5 billion in FDI, or 47 percent of the country's total, a decline of 1.8 percent year-on-year in the first nine months, though it would be an increase of 1.6 percent if the real estate industry is excluded.

The HSBC preliminary manufacturing purchasing managers' index, a main economic indicator, rose to 49.1 in October, the highest level in three months, supported by recovery of domestic demand and business confidence while economists hold that China's economic growth is reversing its slowdown after registering growth of 7.4 percent in the third quarter, the slowest pace in 14 quarters.

However, Supachai Panitchpakdi, secretary-general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, said that "the current trends of investment flows to developing countries, particularly to Asia, are worrisome, and the challenge for channeling FDI into key development sectors such as infrastructure, agriculture and the green economy remains daunting".

lijiabao@chinadaily.com.cn