BEIJING - Foreign direct investment (FDI) in China grew 32.9 percent year-on-year in March to $12.52 billion, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Tuesday.

FDI in China has increased this year, with a 29.4 percent year-on-year rise in the first quarter to $30.34 billion, MOC spokesman Yao Jian said.

FDI inflow in March was significantly higher than February's take of $7.8 billion.

Compared with 1,156 new foreign-funded enterprises in February, 2,538 new foreign-invested enterprises were approved in March, up 10.5 percent from the same period last year.

China approved 5,937 new foreign-invested companies in the first quarter, up 8.8 percent year-on-year.

By the end of March, China had approved 716,578 foreign-invested companies and used $1.08 trillion of FDI.

FDI in China increased 17.4 percent year-on-year in 2010, registering a total of $105.74 billion.

Outbound direct investment rises

China's outbound direct investment stood at $8.51 billion in the first quarter, up 13.2 percent year-on-year, bringing China's cumulative outbound non-financial direct investment to $267.3 billion by the end of March, Yao said.

China's outbound direct investment rose 150 percent both in Australia and the European Union in the first quarter, Yao said.