Foreign direct investment (FDI) in China for the month of July has narrowed down by 8.7 per cent compared to a year ago, latest data released by the Commerce Ministry on Thursday showed, affirming what could really be a slow economic rebound for the Asian country.

July's FDI inflows reached $7.6 billion, bringing total FDI from January to July to hit $66.7 billion. However, compared to the first seven months of 2011, this was still a reduction of 3.6 per cent.

The latest data extends the longest run of falls China has experienced since the global financial crisis happened.

FDI, an essential measure of the external economy's health, is still a small contributor to overall capital flows if compared with exports.

China's economy in the second quarter grew by only 7.6 per cent from a year ago, its slowest pace in more than three years. Economists fear this may extend into a seventh straight quarter as exports fell in July.

In 2011, China's total FDI reached $116 billion. The FDI attracted from January to July this year is still roughly on course with the targets set by the Commerce Ministry, which aimed for $120 billion in each of the next four years.

Likewise negative were FDI inflows from other Asian countries on a year-on-year basis. Investment into the top 10 Asian economies, including Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore, dropped 3.8 per cent to $57.3 billion between January and July compared from a year ago, the ministry said.