China received 7.9 billion U.S. dollars of foreign direct investment (FDI) in September, up 18.9 percent from the same month last year, the Ministry of Commerce announced on Thursday.

It is the second time this year that FDI has risen year on year. In August, China received 7.5 billion U.S. dollars of FDI, up 7 percent from a year earlier.

FDI in the first nine months shrank 14.26 percent from the same period last year to 63.77 billion U.S. dollars, said the ministry.

The government approved foreign investment in 2,217 new companies in September, up 10.63 percent from a year earlier, bring the total for the first three quarters to 16,348, down 21.41 percent from the same period last year.