The Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, north China, registered 363.32 million US dollars in contractual overseas investment in the first quarter this year, up 438 percent year on year, statistics have shown.

According to the People's Bank of China branch in Hohhot, the regional capital, the region used 32.72 million US dollars of overseas investment in the first three months, up 30 percent over the corresponding period of last year.

The region approved 29 overseas-financed enterprises in the period, including 14 firms wholly owned by overseas investors.

Overseas investors have shifted their focus from traditional industries such as milk, meat, cashmere and manufacturing, to currently hot sectors like real estate, power and metallurgy.

Statistics show that 59.23 percent of the region's overseas investment in the period went to the real estate sector, while overseas investment to the manufacturing sector dropped by 39 percent year on year.

Source: Xinhua