Foreign direct investment (FDI) in China grew 32.9 percent year on year in March to 12.52 billion U.S. dollars, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Tuesday.

FDI in China has increased this year, with a 29.4 percent year-on-year rise in the first quarter to 30.34 billion U.S. dollars, MOC spokesman Yao Jian said.

FDI inflow in March was significantly higher than February's take of 7.8 billion U.S. dollars.

Compared with 1,156 new foreign-funded enterprises in February, 2,538 new foreign-invested enterprises were approved in March, up 10.5 percent from the same period last year.

China approved 5,937 new foreign-invested companies in the first quarter, up 8.8 percent year on year.

By the end of March, China had approved 716,578 foreign-invested companies and used 1.08 trillion U.S. dollars of FDI.

FDI in China increased 17.4 percent year on year in 2010, registering a total of 105.74 billion U.S. dollars.