Contracted foreign direct investment (FDI) in China surged more than 50% in the first nine months of this year. American investments were worth USD5.83 billion in the first three quarters. Several well-known firms including Ford Motor, Air Products and Chemicals, Eli Lilly & Co, and Amazon have decided to raise their investment in China. Contracted investments from South Korea jumped 66.5% in the January-September period and those from Germany surged 41.1%. China’s utilized FDI rose 9% from a year earlier to USD94.9 billion in the first nine months, with 18,980 new foreign-invested firms being established, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM). FDI in China’s eastern areas totaled USD80.5 billion, an increase of 10.1% from a year earlier. FDI in central areas rose 0.3%, and in western areas it increased by 2.2%. In the first three quarters, FDI being channeled into the service sector jumped 19.2% to USD57.9 billion, leading the growth and taking up 61.1% of the total. Capital going into high-tech services increased 57.6%, the Shanghai Daily reports.