September 14, 2002	Saturday	Rajab 6, 1423

BEIJING, Sept 13: A flood of overseas cash pouring into China’s economy picked up still further during August, with foreign investment growing 25.5pc in the first 8 months of the year, official figures said on Friday.

The figure is well up on the 22 per cent year-on-year rise seen during the first seven months, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation said.

A total of $34.44bn of investment entered China in the eight months to August, the ministry said, with $4.9bn in August alone.

Contracted foreign investment commitments to spend in the future grew even more sharply, up 42.4 in the eight months, a notable leap from the 34.9 per cent seen during the first seven months.

WTO membership has obliged China to begin dismantling many of the regulations which excluded foreign competition.—AFP