China attracted $8.8 billion of foreign direct investment in September--up 4.9% on the year, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on Thursday. The figure was just below August's $8.38 billion, which was up 0.62% on the year. FDI in the January-September period rose 6.2% on year to $88.6 billion. Nonfinancial overseas direct investment rose 17.4% on year in the first nine months of this year to $61.6 billion.