BEIJING, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Chinese mainland continued stable growth in the first 10 months of this year thanks to robust manufacturing and high-tech investment.

China's FDI rose 3.3 percent year on year to 701.16 billion yuan (about 107.7 billion U.S. dollars) in the January-October period, the Ministry of Commerce said Thursday in a statement.

The number of new overseas-funded companies jumped 89.3 percent from a year earlier to 49,545.

Some 220 billion yuan of foreign investment went to the manufacturing sector, up 12.4 percent from a year ago, while funds pumped into high-tech sectors climbed 11.4 percent, accounting for 22.4 percent of the total FDI.

Investment from the UK surged 175.9 percent, the fastest among China's major investment sources, while investment from countries along the Belt and Road routes saw stable growth of 11.9 percent.

The country's pilot free trade zones saw FDI inflow advance 10.5 percent and account for 12.5 percent of the total FDI.

Thursday's data also showed China's non-financial outbound direct investment rose 3.8 percent to 89.57 billion U.S. dollars, with the bulk going to sectors including business services, manufacturing and retail sales.

Countries along the Belt and Road routes remained attractive destinations, with investment from China up 6.4 percent.