Foreign direct investment into China continued to rise in March, up 39.6 percent from a year ago to 9.3 billion dollars, the government said Thursday.
In the first three months of the year, foreign enterprises invested 27.4 billion dollars in China, jumping 61.3 percent from the same period in 2007, the commerce ministry said in a statement on its website.
The sharp growth this year has triggered analysts concerns of a surge in hot money inflows, which could come on the back of rises in the yuan and a widening spread between falling US interest rates and rising Chinese rates.
Foreign direct investment, along with booming exports, are among the top factors resulting in China's massive build-up in foreign exchange reserves and excess liquidity in the financial system.
China's foreign exchange reserves, already the world's largest, hit 1.65 trillion dollars by the end of February, up nearly eight percent from the end of last year.
Hong Kong, the British Virgin Islands and Singapore were the top three sources of investment in the first three months of the year, the ministry said.
