Shanghai, China's largest metropolis, approved 349 foreign-funded projects, which attracted 1.23 billion US dollars in contracted foreign capital in January this year, according to latest data provided by the municipal foreign trade and economic cooperation commission.

The foreign direct investment, or FDI, absorbed by this easternChina economic hub in January grew 2.24 percent over the same month of last year, the commission said.

Of the total projects approved last January, 129 were industrial projects, which snatched 51 percent of the total monthly contracted foreign capital, and seven dealt with real estate, involving 299 million US dollars, or 24.38 percent of the total foreign capital.

The projects included 33 with each involving foreign investmentof more than 10 million US dollars. Among them, the Shanghai WorldFinancial Center increased the investment by 260 million US dollars. The Shanghai Volkswagen, a Sino-German carmaking joint-venture, added its investment by 130 million US dollars.

By the end of January, 36,744 foreign-invested enterprises had been registered in Shanghai, attracting 87.36 billion US dollars in contracted foreign capital.

Source: Xinhua