Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Chinese mainland registered steady growth in the first three months of the year, indicating the world's second-largest economy remained a popular destination for global investors.

The FDI inflow, in actual use, expanded 4.9 percent year on year to 408.45 billion yuan (about 59.2 billion US dollars) in the January-March period, the Ministry of Commerce said Thursday.

More than 10,000 new foreign-invested companies were established in this period, a 25.5-percent increase year on year.

In terms of sector-wise figures, FDI in the high-tech industries increased by 18 percent from the same period a year ago, according to the ministry.

Specifically, the electronic and telecom equipment manufacturing sector saw FDI surge by 55.7 percent.

FDI in services related to research and development (R&D) and design expanded by 24.6 percent, while that in pharmaceutics rose by 20.2 percent.

There has been continued improvement in terms of the quality and structure of FDI in China, said ministry spokesperson Shu Jueting. She attributed the improvement to the establishment of foreign-funded R&D centers, the efforts to attract investment in manufacturing, and the country's new industry catalog to encourage foreign investment.

During the January-March period, investment from France and Germany surged by 635.5 percent and 60.8 percent year on year, respectively. FDI from the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Switzerland and the Republic of Korea also recorded stellar growth.

FDI from countries along the Belt and Road saw a 27.8-percent increase during these months, according to the ministry.

China has rolled out multiple measures to open up wider to the world. One of the fresh moves came on Wednesday, as the country vowed to appropriately shorten the negative list for foreign investment.

To this end, efforts have been made to evaluate the effect of the list over the past few years and learn about the demands of foreign-invested enterprises, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

Earlier this month, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng said that China welcomes more multinational companies to tap into the Chinese market, expand their investment and grow along with China's economic development.