Foreign direct investment (FDI) in China rose 19.8 per cent in July to $8.3 billion from a year earlier, stoking the expansion of the fastest-growing major economy.For the first seven months of the year, the increase was 18.6 per cent to $69.2 billion, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement in Beijing on Tuesday.China’s sustained growth and expanding consumer market have encouraged companies including Nissan Motor Co. and McDonald’s Corporation  to boost their presence. Nissan’s Chinese venture said July 26 that it plans to invest 50 billion yuan ($7.8 billion) by 2015 to gain share in the world’s largest auto market. “The weakening global recovery and turbulent financial market will make China an even more attractive place for investors to park their money,” Fang Sihai, a Beijing-based chief economist at Hongyuan Securities Co., said before today’s announcement. “The China story will remain appealing for many years to come.”The world’s second-biggest economy may expand more than 9 per cent this year, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of economists. That compares with International Monetary Fund projections in June of 2.5 per cent growth in the US and a 2 per cent expansion in the euro area. From / Gulf Today