Foreign direct investment flows into Asian developing countries rose slightly last year despite a big drop oin investment in China, confounding predictions that FDI would continue its decline in the wake of the Asian financial crisis, reports the Financial Times.

According to prelimary figures compiled by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, FDI flows to the Asian region increased 1% to $91bn in 1999. While investment into China, the largest FDI recipient in Asia, dropped nearly 8% to $40.4bn from $43.7bn in 1998, flows to South Korea jumped $3bn to $8.5bn last year. Investment in Singapore rose by $1.5bn to $8.7bn, and in Taiwan from $0.2bn to $2.4bn.