BEIJING, Jan. 23 -- China's Ministry of Commerce will boost opening-up and ease market access in 2025, it said on Thursday.

After all foreign investment restrictions in the manufacturing sector have been lifted, the opening-up of the services industry will be advanced steadily, promoting pilot programs in fields such as telecommunication, health care and education, a ministry spokesman said.

The ministry will revise and expand the catalog of industries that encourage foreign investment to make investment policies more attractive, he noted.

A total of 59,080 new foreign-invested firms were established across China in 2024, an increase of 9.9 percent year on year, according to ministry data.

In 2024, foreign direct investment in the Chinese mainland in actual use totaled 826.25 billion yuan (115.22 billion U.S. dollars), down 27.1 percent year on year.