Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Chinese mainland rose 2.3 percent year-on-year to 560.43 billion yuan (81.82 billion US dollars) in the first eight months this year, the Ministry of Commerce said in a briefing on Thursday.

The number of newly established overseas-funded companies in the January-August soared 102.7 percent year-on-year to 41,331, according to official data.

In August alone, China's FDI topped 63.72 billion yuan, up 1.9 percent year-on-year.

The high-tech industry maintained positive growth momentum and the manufacturing industry performed well. The actual use of foreign capital in the manufacturing industry reached 172.12 billion yuan, an increase of 8.7 percent year-on-year, accounting for 30.7 percent of the total.

The actual use of foreign capital in the central and western regions has also increased, and the Pilot Free Trade Zone has maintained a leading position. The western region saw a year-on-year increase of 28.6 percent in its actual use of foreign capital, which was 39.4 billion yuan.

Meanwhile, China's outbound direct investment volume in the non-financial sector surged 7.8 percent year-on-year to 74.09 billion US dollars in the January to August period. Chinese companies invested in 4,309 businesses in 153 countries and regions around the world.