China’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) reported the first annual drop in three years since 2009, as the country, one of the world’s top destinations for foreign investment is suffering from a weaker global economy.

The country’s FDI totaled $111.72billion last year, 3.7% lower from the previous year, said spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce Shen Danyang on Wednesday.

FDI for the single month of December dropped 4.5% year-on-year to $11.7billion, much lower than the expectation of a 2.0% decline.

US investment in China grew 4.5% year-on-year and direct investment from Japan grew 16.3% from a year ago despite the land dispute which led to cooling down of Sino-Japan relations.

Shen said China still faces headwinds this year in foreign trade as the country tries to have the foreign trade growth keep pace with the broader GDP growth.

Outlook for foreign trade remains difficult, Shen said as he listed international demand, cost and trade environment as the three major challenges. 

Latest statistics by Chinese Customs showed a 6.2% in exports and imports in 2012 on a yearly basis, missing the 10% growth target.