Investment from Japan ebbs amid uncertainty

FDI increased 138.5 percent to $1.8 billion. Investments from South Korea were concentrated in vehicle manufacturing, high-end semiconductors, new materials and home appliances.

Shen Danyang, spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, said China's FDI growth was boosted by investment from other economies such as Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea during the January-April period. The country's overall environment for FDI has remained unchanged and promising.

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"The Chinese government aims to attract more FDI to services, advanced manufacturing and environment-related industries, in a bid to help domestic factories make higher value-added products," said Shen.

China's service industry drew $22.5 billion in FDI in the first four months, up 19.1 percent from a year earlier, while investment inflows into the nation's manufacturing sector fell 11.4 percent to $14.5 billion.

"Japan now is relying on quantitative easing to stimulate its economy, and the devalued yen and China's rising labor costs have also forced Japanese companies to pay more when investing in China," said Song Hong, a researcher at the Institute of World Economics and Politics.

The institute is under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a top government think tank.

To seek new growth points from the global market, Song said Japan also has encouraged its companies to invest in the member nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to "diversify investment into ASEAN as an alternative to China".

Japan invested $22.8 billion in Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam in 2013, compared with $7.06 billion in China, Japan's largest trading partner, data from the Japan External Trade Organization show.

Keen to gain more resources and goods orders from Africa, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe paid a visit to the continent earlier this year to boost business ties to help Japanese companies gain ground on their European and Chinese rivals in the lucrative African market.