China's foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow fell 10.8 percent from a year earlier to 216.19 billion yuan (30.62 billion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced Wednesday.

In U.S. dollar terms, the FDI inflow stood at 31.2 billion U.S. dollars during the period, down 12.8 percent percent year-on-year.

FDI in March alone reached 81.78 billion yuan, dropped 14.1 percent year-on-year, according to MOFCOM. The decrease is 11.5 percent narrower than that in February.

However, overseas investment in high-tech service industries surged 15.5 percent, accounting for 29.9 percent of the total FDI in service sector. Among them, information services, e-commerce services, and professional technical services increased by 28.5, 62.4, and 95 percent respectively year-on-year.

(Cover: VCG)