''Growth of China's foreign direct investment in May dropped to just under 0.3 percent, an indicator that global companies remain hesitant to expand in China amid its economic slowdown.
According to the Ministry of Commerce, FDI was up just 0.29 percent from a year earlier to $9.26 billion, compared with a 0.4 percent increase in April and the slowest growth since February.
But Shen Danyang, spokesman for the ministry, rebutted the notion that the nation is losing its appeal to multinationals as an FDI destination.
He said that "from a global perspective, China's FDI trend remains comparatively stable and good ... and positive growth (in FDI) for four consecutive months, to a large extent, shows the recognition of global investors on the competitiveness of the Chinese economy and the nation's investment environment".
FDI in 2012 hit a record high of $111.7 billion. The nation has remained the most attractive FDI destination among developing countries for more than a decade.
But 2012 was the first year that the nation saw a drop in its annual FDI since 2009.
According to the ministry, during the first five months of 2013, FDI was up just slightly more than 1 percent from a year earlier to $47.6 billion, mainly led by developed nations and regions.
Investment from the United States was up by 22.6 percent, and that from the European Union increased 24.1 percent from January to May.
During a meeting with executives from more than 10 multinational companies that were to attend the Fortune Global Forum 2013 in Chengdu earlier this month, Premier Li Keqiang tried to clear up the foreign businesses' doubts by saying that "China has the ability and conditions" to sustain economic growth and "China will be committed to deepening the reform and opening-up policy".
Li encouraged the foreign companies to "cash in on the huge opportunities resulting from the nation's economic development and efforts toward industrialization and urbanization".
