Foreign direct investment (FDI) into China dropped 4.5% year on year in December, the seventh consecutive monthly decline since June, according to data released on Wednesday. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said at a monthly news conference that the country used 11.7 billion US dollars of overseas investment last month, according to China\'s (Xinhua) News Agency. The pace of decline slowed from 5.4% in November. In 2012, the monthly FDI figures dropped 11 times year on year, with a slight increase only in May. Total FDI into the country in 2012 declined 3.7% from one year earlier to 111.72 billion US dollars. Last year, FDI from the United States increased 4.5% year on year to 3.13 billion US dollars, while that from Japan surged 16.3% to 7.38 billion US dollars. However, FDI from the eurozone fell 3.8% to 6.11 billion US dollars.