Foreign direct investment in Mainland China was worth 813 billion yuan (US$118 billion) last year, 4.1 percent more than the year before, Xinhua reports.

The Chinese government-run news agency quotes a written statement issued online by the Ministry of Commerce as saying that, in contrast, the annual rate of growth in FDI in 2015 was 6.4 percent.

Xinhua says FDI in high-tech services increased by 86.1 percent last year to 95.6 billion yuan.

The report remarks that the government is thinking about making it easier to enter the Chinese market, with a view to attracting more foreign investment.

The Ministry of Commerce disclosed that Mainland Chinese non-financial outbound direct investment increased by 44.1 percent last year to US$170.11 billion, which was invested in 7,961 enterprises in 164 different parts of the world.