BEIJING, May 12  -- Foreign direct investment (FDI) on the Chinese mainland jumped 11.1 percent year on year in the first four months of 2015, settling at 273.61 billion yuan (44.49 billion U.S. dollars), the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Tuesday.

The pace slowed from the 11.3 percent increase registered in the January-March period but far exceeded the annual growth rate posted for 2014 of 1.7 percent.

China approved 7,790 new foreign-funded companies in the first four months, up 17 percent year on year.

Service industry FDI totaled 28.14 billion U.S. dollars in the period, up 24.8 percent year on year. This accounted for 63.2 percent of all FDI during the period.

Some high-end manufacturing businesses saw fast investment growth. Investment climbed 9.9 percent year on year in communications equipment, computers and other electric-facility manufacturing in the first four months. Investment rose 2.4 percent year on year in transportation equipment manufacturing in the period.

FDI from key countries and regions has been stable. In the first four months, the top ten countries and regions with investment into China pumped in 42.39 billion U.S. dollars, up 12 percent year on year and contributing 95.3 percent of FDI.

Investment from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Macao SAR climbed remarkably. The European Union invested 2.52 billion U.S. dollars into China in the first four months, up 22.2 percent year on year.

The Chinese market is still full of opportunities for overseas investors, said the MOC.