BEIJING — Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Chinese mainland dropped 9.2 percent year on year in January 2017 due to a high comparison base and holiday factors, new data showed on Feb 16.

FDI inflow stood at 80.1 billion yuan ($12 billion) last month, lower than 81.42 billion yuan in December 2016, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said in a statement.

The drop was mainly due to high base figure in the same month of 2016, MOC spokesman Sun Jiwen said at a press conference.

“Meanwhile, the Spring Festival holiday also led to the decline,” Sun said.

Spring Festival, China’s Lunar New Year, fell in January this year but was in February last year. Chinese people enjoy a seven-day holiday around the festival.

The drop over seasonal factors does not represent any trend for FDI inflow in the full year, as China still boasts strong favorable conditions for attracting overseas investment in the medium-to-long run, Sun added

The economy may grow at an average annualized rate of more than 6.5 percent in 2016-2020, still among the world’s fastest-growing economies.

China’s competitiveness in absorbing investment will remain, as the nation expands domains of opening up, improves the modern market system and optimizes the business environment, Sun said.