SHIJIAZHUANG - North China's Hebei province saw $3.72 billion of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first five months of this year, up 19.2 percent year-on-year, authorities said Thursday.

According to the provincial commerce department, $3.22 billion, or 86.5 percent of the total FDI, went into the secondary industry, an increase of 26.5 percent compared with the same period of last year.

About $2.82 billion went into the manufacturing industry, up 18.1 percent. And 40 enterprises with foreign investment of $1.58 billion were established in the province from January to May.

The investments were mainly from Asia and Europe, said the provincial commerce department. Investment from Asia rose 47.9 percent to $2.86 billion and that from Europe increased 41.6 percent to $240 million.