The figure represents an increase of 20.5 percent over the same period of last year, Ye Zhen, spokesman of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), said at a press conference held by the Information Office of the State council Tuesday.

Ye said that the Chinese government approved 11,973 new projects of foreign investment during the January-June period, a year-on-year increase of 18.5 percent.

According to the NBS, the average scale of the new foreign- funded projects was US$400,000 larger than that of last year.

Meanwhile, foreign-funded enterprises in the coastal areas of the country have channeled the majority of their additional investment to such areas as telecommunications and high-tech products.

NBS statistics showed that the contract value of FDI reached US$33.4 billion in the first half of the year, up 38.2 percent from the same period last year.

These figures well indicate that a new round of foreign investment in China will begin soon, Ye said.

(Xinhua 07/18/2001)