China attracted US$126.27 billion in inward non-financial foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2015, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced on Thursday.

FDI into the Chinese mainland increased 6.4 percent year-on-year in 2015, the Ministry added, quoted by Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua.

Simpler investment approval procedures and the accelerating development of new free trade zones contributed to the growth of FDI despite the economic slowdown in the country, according to the Ministry.

Investment in China’s service sector accounted for 61.1 percent of total FDI inflows to the country in 2015, the report added.

According to Xinhua, foreign mergers and acquisitions in China increased significantly last year. Their share of total FDI surged from 6.3 percent in 2014 to 14.1 percent in 2015, the news agency said.