Foreign direct investment in China maintained steady growth in September along with the pickup in the world's second-largest economy.

The country's FDI in September rose 4.88 percent from a year ago to $8.84 billion while the total amount of FDI in the first nine months stood at $88.6 billion, up 6.22 percent year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

"China retains outstanding advantages in attracting foreign direct investment while global investors' confidence in the country has not changed," Shen Danyang, the ministry's spokesman, told a news conference on Thursday.