Some 7,160 new foreign-invested firms were set up across China during the first two months of 2024, marking a 34.9 percent increase year on year, data from the Ministry of Commerce showed on Friday.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Chinese mainland in actual use stood at 215.09 billion yuan (about 30.29 billion U.S. dollars) during the period, down 19.9 percent year on year.

FDI in the high-tech manufacturing sector jumped 10.1 percent year on year to 28.27 billion yuan in the two months.

FDI from France, Spain and Australia increased by 585.8 percent, 399.3 percent and 144.5 percent, respectively, the ministry said.