BEIJING, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- China actually used 36.93 billion U.S. dollars in foreign direct investment, or FDI, in the first seven months, a growth of 12.92 percent on last year, the Ministry of Commerce announced on Monday.

    However, the establishment of 21,676 foreign-funded enterprises was approved nationwide from January to July, down 4.81 percent from the previous year, the ministry said.

    In July, 2,993 foreign-funded enterprises were approved, down 0.96 percent, but5.04 billion U.S. dollars in FDI was actually used nationwide, up 17.84 percent.

    The top ten sources of overseas investment in the Chinese mainland accounted for 86.6 percent of the total FDI in the seven months. Among them, the United States recorded a drop of 14.4 percent in the number of enterprises it established in China, but a rise of 5.3 percent in FDI.