BEIJING - The foreign direct investment (FDI) China attracted in November dropped 9.76 percent year-on-year to $8.76 billion, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Thursday.

In November, China approved the establishment of 2,718 foreign-invested companies, down 12.91 percent from a year earlier, said ministry spokesman Shen Danyang.

The November figure brought the total FDI in the first 11 months to $103.77 billion, up 13.15 percent year-on-year.

During the same period, the nation approved the establishment of 25,086 foreign-invested companies, up 3.23 percent year-on-year, said Shen.

Shen said that the FDI in China remained the momentum of rapid growth in the first 11 months, though the figure in a single month could be affected by the progress of certain projects.

He said the country will maintain its advantage for attracting foreign investment in the long run, because "with the steady and relatively rapid growth of China's economy, the country's market potential is progressively being unleashed, industrial supporting capabilities are increasingly strengthened and the environment for foreign investment has been constantly improving. China's long term is coming into being."

Capital inflow from 10 Asian nations and regions, including Japan, Thailand and Singapore, climbed 17.98 percent in the first 11 months to $89.59 billion, while investment from the EU rose 0.29 percent to reach $5.98 billion during the period.

FDI from the United States declined further by dropping 23.05 percent year-on-year to $2.74 billion in the first 11 months, compared with a drop of 18.13 percent during the January-October period.

"Many reasons have caused the decline in FDI from the US, but the most important one is its weak economic growth, which impaired the capacity of foreign investment," Shen said.

Another reason is that the US government has encouraged inbound investment, according to Shen.

FDI in China's central regions grew faster than that in the country's eastern and western areas during the first 11 months.

Central China attracted $7.07 billion in FDI, up 27.63 percent year-on-year, compared with an increase of 12.01 percent in the east and 14.76 percent in the west.

The country's outbound direct investment, excluding that of the financial sector, rose 5.2 percent year-on-year to $50.01 billion in the first 11 months, Shen said.