BEIJING -- Foreign direct investment (FDI) in China rose 26.03 percent year on year to $38.8 billion during the first four months of this year, the Ministry of Commerce said on Tuesday.

In April, the FDI climbed 15.21 percent to $8.46 billion, down from March's growth of 32.9 percent, MOC spokesman Yao Jian said during a regular briefing.

While March saw 2,538 new foreign-invested companies being approved to operate in China, 2,215 foreign-invested companies were approved last month, up 8.21 percent from the same period in 2010.

China has approved 8,152 new foreign-invested companies over the past four months, a rise of 8.61 percent year-on-year.