Tianjin, an industrial center in northern China, used 2.5 billion U.S. dollars of foreign direct investment, or FDI, in the first eight months of the year, a year-on-year growth of 17.2 percent, local trade officials announced on Tuesday.

Between January and August, Tianjin approved the establishment of 723 foreign-funded enterprises. The projects represent 9.2 billion U.S. dollars of investment, including 5.4 billion U.S. dollars in contracted foreign capital, said officials with the city commerce commission.

Of the total contracted foreign capital, 2.8 billion U.S. dollars, or 52.43 percent, went to the service sector. The share was 10 percentage points higher than the same period of last year, the officials said.

In the January-August period, transport and warehousing enterprises posted a 169-percent year-on-year growth in contracted foreign investment, the officials added.