BEIJING, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Foreign direct investment (FDI) into China hit a record 105.74 billion U.S. dollars last year, up 17.4 percent year on year, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) announced Tuesday.

In December alone, China attracted 14.03 billion U.S. dollars of FDI, up 15.6 percent year on year, making it the 17th consecutive month of FDI growth since August 2009.

The rapid FDI growth could be attributed to robust development in the service sector and the country's central and western regions, said MOC spokesman Yao Jian.

FDI in the service sector rose 28.6 percent last year and that in central and western regions climbed 27.6 percent year on year, Yao said.

China's outbound direct investment in the non-financial sector hit 59 billion U.S. dollars last year, up 36.3 percent year on year, the MOC announced.

Total outbound direct investment in the non-financial sector amounted to 258.8 billion U.S. dollars at the end of last year.

Though China's outbound direct investment grew rapidly last year, most of it went to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, as well as countries in Asia and Latin America, with a very small amount to Europe, the United States and Japan, Yao said.

Many factors contributed to the phenomenon, Yao said.

Chinese entrepreneurs were more familiar with the markets in Asia, Latin America and Africa, Yao said.

Meanwhile, "market openness" had contributed to the smaller proportion of Chinese investment in developed markets, Yao said.

Not long ago, China's steel makers and telecommunications producers had faced obstacles when investing in the United States, Yao said.

The MOC statistics showed U.S. investment in China rose 13.31 percent year on year to 4.05 billion U.S. dollars, while China's investment in the United States stood at 1.39 billion U.S. dollars last year, up 81.4 percent year on year.

Most of China's investment in the United States was in the manufacturing sector, Yao said.

With growing relations between China and the United States, the two countries would promote full cooperation in trade, investment, technology and intellectual property protection, Yao said.

A Chinese business delegation and U.S. firms signed six agreements worth 574 million U.S. dollars in Texas Monday, a day ahead of Chinese President Hu Jintao's arrival in the U.S. for a four-day state visit.

The Chinese delegation was led by Vice Commerce Minister Wang Chao and had attracted 400 business people.

The deals included cotton and porcelain products and an agreement on the development and application of crystalline silicon solar cells and PV generating systems.

More agreements with U.S. businesses would be signed at a Sino-U.S. economic and trade cooperation forum in Chicago Friday, Yao said.

The MOC gave no details, but U.S. media reported Monday that General Electric planned to sign a joint-venture agreement in commercial aviation with a state-owned Chinese company, aerospace design and equipment manufacturer Aviation Industry Corporation of China, or Avic, during Hu's visit.