The Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Wednesday that foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country rose 13.43 percent year-on-year in May to 9.225 billion U.S. dollars.

The growth rate slowed from an increase of 15.21 percent for April when FDI stood at 8.46 billion U.S. dollars.

The May amount brought the total FDI in the first five months this year to 48.03 billion U.S. dollars, up 23.4 percent from a year ago, MOC spokesman Yao Jian said at a briefing.

The FDI rose 26.03 percent from a year earlier to 38.8 billion U.S. dollars in the first four months.

China approved 2,391 foreign-invested companies to start business operations in May, up 12.15 percent from the same month last year, he said. A total of 10,543 foreign firms received approval in the first five months, up 9.39 percent year-on-year, he said.?