A clerk of ICBC bank counts Chinese one hundred Yuan at its branch in Beijing, China, April 13, 2016.[Photo/Agencies]

BEIJING - Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Chinese mainland rose 9.7 percent year on year to $15.23 billion in June, the Ministry of Commerce said on Tuesday.

This compared with a 1-percent decline registered in May.

In the first half of 2016, FDI, which excludes investment in the financial sector, rose 5.1 percent year on year to $69.42 billion, with the growth rate accelerating from 3.8 percent registered in the first five months, the ministry said.

The service sector attracted $48.94 billion of FDI in H1, 8 percent more than in the same period of last year and representing 70.4 percent of the total.

FDI into the manufacturing sector declined 2.8 percent during the same period to $19.53 billion, accounting for 28.3 percent of the total.

Among China's major investors, FDI from the United States soared 136 percent year on year in the first half, while that from Britain rose 105.3 percent.