BEIJING - Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Chinese mainland rose 5.2 percent year on year in July to 50.6 billion yuan ($8.2 billion), official data showed on Thursday.

The growth was an acceleration from the 0.7-percent rise recorded in June, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said.

In the first seven months of 2015, FDI grew 7.9 percent to 471.1 billion yuan.

Hi-tech services and manufacturing are attractive to foreign investors, with major international firms increasing their investment, according to MOC official Huang Feng.

Foreign investment in the Chinese hi-tech service sector surged 63.3 percent to $4.9 billion in the January-July period. Intel Corp. spent 6 billion yuan to buy 20 percent of the stakes of a subsidiary of the Beijing-based Tsinghua Unigroup.

Hi-tech manufacturing attracted $5.5 billion of foreign investment in the first seven months, up 0.1 percent.

LG Chemical Co Ltd has invested $280 million in China since the beginning of the year on projects including optical filters and lithium batteries. Its investment in China has topped $3 billion in the past 20 years.

The European Union invested $4.5 billion in the Jan-July period, up 18.4 percent.