BEIJING, April 18 -- China's foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow saw marginal recovery in March, in contrast to a decline seen in the first three months, official data showed Friday.

FDI in the Chinese mainland in actual use climbed by 13.2 percent year on year last month, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement. In the first three months, FDI inflow totaled 269.2 billion yuan (about 37.35 billion U.S. dollars), down 10.8 percent year on year.

During the January-March period, 12,603 new foreign-invested enterprises were established nationwide, representing a year-on-year growth of 4.3 percent, the ministry said.

In breakdown, actual use of FDI in the manufacturing and services industries during the three-month period stood at 71.51 billion yuan and 193.33 billion yuan, respectively.

Meanwhile, actual use of FDI in high-tech sectors reached 78.61 billion yuan, with FDI in the e-commerce services sector, bio-pharmaceutical manufacturing sector, aerospace equipment manufacturing sector and medical instrument manufacturing sector growing by 100.5 percent, 63.8 percent, 42.5 percent and 12.4 percent, respectively.

Investments from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries jumped by 56.2 percent during the period, while those from the European Union increased by 11.7 percent, the data showed. Investments from Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Japan, and the Republic of Korea grew by 76.8 percent, 60.5 percent, 29.1 percent, and 12.9 percent, respectively.