China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) on Monday announced that the amount of used foreign direct investment (FDI) fell 20.4 percent year on year in the first five months in China.

The figure from January to May stood at US$34.05 billion, said MOC spokesman Yao Jian.

In May alone, the investment dropped 17.8 percent to US$6.38 billion, the eighth straight monthly fall, Yao told reporters on Monday.

(Xinhua News Agency June 15, 2009)