The foreign direct investment or FDI of China in the first two months of this year increased 10.4% to $19.3 billion compared to the same period the year before, Reuters reported.

However, the holidays of the Lunar New Year caused a huge plunge in last month's data. The FDI posted for February alone was $8.6 billion. Although this represented a 4.1% increase from the year before figures, it was a sharp decline from the 16.1% rise posted in January, the report said.

Speaking to reporters in a briefing, Spokesman Shen Danyang of the Commerce Ministry said the ministry does not provide February figures by itself because of the disruptions brought about by the holiday season when establishments don't operate for long periods of time because of Lunar New Year.

Shen said, "Despite weak international investment and the fact that we face various problems in our development, the FDI data shows that foreign investors are still very confident."

According to the ministry, the FDI from the US increased 43.3% to $711 million in the first two months. Investment from the top 10 economies in Asia also increased 11.6% to $16.9 billion. However, European Union FDI went down to $1.1 billion or a decrease of 13.8%, the report said.

The Chinese government is now trying to lure FDI in sectors like high-end manufacturing, modern services as well as in energy-saving and environment-focused segments even as it prompting domestic firms to expand abroad. In the first two months, the FDI for the service sectors in the country increased 25.5% to $10.6 billion compared to the year before. The ministry said this comprised 54.9% of the overall FDI total, the report said.

However, the outbound direct investments made by Chinese companies plunged 37.2% in the first two months to reach only $11.54 billion compared to the year before figures.Shen attributed this to the high level of comparison brought about by the $15 billion purchase of Nexen by CNOOC early last year, the report said.