BEIJING (AFP) - Foreign direct investment in China fell 3.7 per cent in 2012 to US$111.72 billion (S$136.9 billion), the government said on Wednesday.

For the month of December FDI also declined, slipping 4.5 per cent from the same month in 2011 to $11.7 billion, the commerce ministry said.

Investment from the European Union declined 3.8 per cent to US$6.11 billion, the ministry said.

But investment from the United States rose 4.5 per cent to US$3.12 billion, the ministry said, while investment from Japan increased 16.3 per cent to US$7.38 billion.

"The growth momentum of investment from some developed countries including the United States and Japan was good," the ministry said in a statement.

Ministry spokesman Shen Danyang also said in a statement that in 2012, Chinese directly invested US$77.22 billion overseas, an increase of 28.6 per cent from the year before.