'Rate hike will have limited impact on direct investment'

China's direct investment in the United States will continue to grow rapidly - and any interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve will likely have a limited impact on future Chinese investment, a senior trade official said on Thursday.

The statement came ahead of President Xi Jinping's four-day state visit to the US starting next Tuesday.

Total Chinese investment in the US was $4.43 billion in the first eight months of this year, up by 35.9 percent from the same period last year, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce.