BEIJING — Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Chinese mainland saw steady growth in January as authorities pledged better services and environment for foreign-funded enterprises, official data showed on Feb 17.

The FDI expanded 4 percent year-on-year to 87.57 billion yuan in January, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce.

In US dollar terms, the FDI inflow stood at $12.68 billion during the period, rising 2.2 percent year-on-year.

Last month, a total of 3,485 new foreign-funded enterprises were established.

Foreign investment in high-tech industries surged 27.9 percent year-on-year to 31.35 billion yuan, accounting for 35.8 percent of the total FDI, the data showed.

Inflow to high-tech manufacturing came in at 8.4 billion yuan while that to high-tech services surged 45.5 percent to 22.95 billion yuan.

Investments from the Republic of Korea and Japan surged 157.1 percent and 50.2 percent, respectively, while those from countries along the Belt and Road increased 31.3 percent.

As China goes all out to contain the coronavirus outbreak, authorities have stressed efforts to help foreign-funded companies resume production and operation in an orderly manner.

A MOC circular last week stressed support for large foreign investment projects, calling for coordinated efforts to solve their difficulties and minimize the impacts of the epidemic.

Localities should further optimize online administrative services and actively facilitate the introduction of foreign investment and capital through online consultations and teleconferences, it said.