China said its actual use of foreign direct investment in the first seven months went down 1.2 percent from the same period last year to US$32.7 billion.

Ma Kai, minister in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission, revealed the figure in his report to a meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Friday.

According to the report, China's exports grew 24.8 percent in the first seven months, down 7.2 percentage points on the same period last year. China's imports grew 21.1 percent in the first seven months, up 7.4 percentage points.

China's fiscal revenue grew 24.2 percent to 2.4 trillion yuan (about US$300 billion) in the first seven months.

(Xinhua News Agency August 26, 2006)