China attracted $12.24 billion of foreign direct investment in March, down 1.47% from a year earlier, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement Thursday. The figure was up from February's $8.5 billion, which was 4.1% higher from a year earlier. The country drew $19.3 billion in foreign direct investment over the first two months of 2014, up 10.4% from a year earlier. FDI in the January-March period rose 5.5% on year to $31.56 billion. Non-financial overseas direct investment was down 16.5% on year in the first quarter. (full story)