BEIJING, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Chinese mainland expanded 6.9 percent year on year to 604 billion yuan in the January-August period, the Ministry of Commerce said Thursday.

In U.S. dollar terms, FDI inflow grew 3.2 percent year on year to 89.26 billion dollars during the period, the ministry said.

FDI in August alone reached 70.89 billion yuan, up 3.6 percent year on year.

During the past eight months, a total of 27,704 new foreign-funded enterprises were established.

Foreign investment in high-tech industries surged 39.3 percent year on year to 174.8 billion yuan, accounting for 28.9 percent of the total FDI, among which the high-tech service sector received 108.28 billion yuan, up 58.4 percent.

During the period, China's pilot free trade zones saw FDI inflow up 23.3 percent year on year to 86.6 billion yuan, accounting for 14.3 percent of the total FDI.

Foreign investment from the Republic of Korea continued fast expansion, surging 45.3 percent year on year in the first eight months, while FDI from the countries along the Belt and Road maintained steady growth of 6.3 percent.