BEIJING, Aug 17 (APP)- China received 5.36 billion U.S. dollars of foreign direct investment (FDI) in July, down 35.7 percent year-on-year, said Ministry of Commerce spokesman Yao Jian on Monday.

China’s total export-import volume between January and July decreased by 22.7 percent year on year to 1146.71 billion U.S. dollars. Imports and exports volume for July amounted to 200 billion U.S. dollars, illustrating smaller decline in foreign trade, Yao said.

The amount of direct Taiwanese investment in the Chinese mainland totalled one billion U.S. dollars in the first half of the year, down 14.94 percent and the trade volume between the two shrank 35.1 percent to 52.53 billion U.S.  dollars in the same period, he said.

Although the FDI is falling, the rate of decline in China was much smaller than the world average, indicating that China had a better investment environment than other developing countries, said Mei Xinyu, a researcher with the Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce.

According to a survey conducted by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development from February to May among 241 multinational coporations, China was still the most attractive country to foreign capitals.