Global Economy

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<b>Foreign Direct Investment in China Falls 5.7 Percent</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Foreign direct investment in China, the world’s fastest-growing major economy, fell 5.7 percent to $5.98 billion in December from a year earlier.
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For 2008, investment rose 23.6 percent to a record $92.4 billion, commerce ministry spokesman Yao Jian said. Non- financial outbound investment jumped 63.6 percent to $40.7 billion, with mergers and acquisitions accounting for half of that.

The number of new companies set up by U.S. investors in China fell 32 percent in the first 11 months of last year, according to government data. For European investors, the decline was 23 percent.

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The economy expanded 9 percent in the three months through September last year. The fourth-quarter figure, to be announced next week, may be <b>as low as 5.4 percent</b>, according to Royal Bank of Scotland Plc. Exports fell in December by the most in almost a decade<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->