BEIJING - Despite drop in the number of foreign-funded enterprises in China, the total investment involved has continued to rise, said the State Administration of Industry and Commerce on Thursday.

By the end of March, 439,800 foreign-funded enterprises had been set up in China, down 0.18 percent from the end of December, data from the SAIC show.

The quarterly decline followed the fall seen in 2012. At that time, the number of foreign enterprises in China had dropped 1.32 percent from a record-high 446,500 at the end of 2011.

The combined registered capital of foreign companies, however, has maintained steady growth, rising 1.33 percent from the end of December to 11.98 trillion yuan ($1.91 trillion) by the end of March, according to the administration.

In the January-March period, 7,946 new enterprises with foreign investment were registered in China, down 7.31 percent year-on-year, while their total registered capital surged 21.68 percent year-on-year to 200 billion yuan, the SAIC said.