Beijing, Mar 15 (IANS): China attracted $7.73 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in February, down 0.9 percent year-on-year, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Thursday.

It marks the fourth consecutive month of drops in FDI in the wake of a lingering global economic recovery, MOC data shows.

FDI fell 0.3 percent year-on-year in January, 12.73 percent in December, and 9.76 percent in November, reported Xinhua.

The February figure brought the total FDI in the first two months to $17.72 billion, down 0.56 percent from the previous year, MOC spokesperson Shen Danyang said at a press conference.

In the first two months, the nation approved the establishment of 3,005 foreign-invested companies, down 11.59 percent year-on-year. The month of February alone registered 1,603 new foreign-invested companies, Shen said.

Shen said that FDI in the country's agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery sectors rose rapidly over the January-February period, together up by 38.2 percent year-on-year to $312 million.

Meanwhile, both manufacturing and service sectors saw FDI drop. The manufacturing industry used $8.36 billion of FDI, down 0.1 percent, while FDI in the service sector dropped 3.51 percent to $8 billion.

Investment from the US and other Asian countries and regions increased during the period, while that from the EU fell, Shen noted.

US businesses invested $525 million in China, an increase of 0.87 percent year-on-year, while investment from 27 EU member countries dropped 33.32 percent to $906 million.