July 12, 2002	Friday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1, 1423

BEIJING, July 11: Foreign direct investment in China shot up 18.7 per cent year-on-year in the first six months of 2002, the period immediately following the country’s entry into the World Trade Organization, official figures said on Thursday.

A total of $24.6 billion of overseas investment was pumped into China’s economy to the end of June, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation said.

The six-monthly growth rate showed investment in June alone had been especially healthy — the year-on-year increase for the first five months of 2002 was a less spectacular 12.4pc.—AFP