BEIJING - FOREIGN direct investment in China rose 26.3 per cent in the first eleven months of the year compared with the same period last year, the government said on Wednesday.

Foreign companies invested US$86.4 billion (S$130 billion) in the country in the period from January to November, the commerce ministry said in a statement.

The growth rate for the period was sharply slower than the 35.1 per cent rise in the first ten months of the year.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in November alone totalled US$5.3 billion, 36.5 per cent lower than a year earlier, according to the statement.

FDI is one of the factors driving the rapid growth of China's foreign exchange reserves, which topped US$1.9 trillion at the end of September. -- AFP