BEIJING - Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Chinese mainland dipped 1.1 percent year on year to 59.24 billion yuan (about $9.3 billion) in April this year, data from the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) showed Thursday.

This was compared with an annual increase of 0.4 percent registered in March.

In the first four months, total FDI inflow edged up 0.1 percent to 286.78 billion yuan, MOC spokesperson Gao Feng said at a regular news conference.

The number of new overseas-funded companies set up during the period surged 95.4 percent from a year earlier to 19,002.

FDI into high-tech sectors, which accounted for 20.8 percent of the total, climbed 20.2 percent, Gao said.

He said the high-tech manufacturing industry continued to see "relatively fast" growth in FDI inflow, which surged 79.5 percent for January-April.

Investment from countries along the Belt and Road increased 57.2 percent from one year earlier.

During the January-April period, domestic companies made a total of $35.58 billion in non-financial outbound direct investment, up 34.9 percent year on year.