SHANGHAI, Aug. 14 -- CHINA'S foreign direct investment jumped last month amid optimism over a rosy economic outlook and robust consumer spending, the Ministry of Commerce said yesterday.

FDI totaled US$36.93 billion in the first seven months of this year, up 12.92 percent from a year earlier. The growth accelerated from the 12.17 percent in the first half, the commerce ministry said.

For July alone, foreign direct investment climbed 17.84 percent to US$5.04 billion.

"The economy is set to remain in the fast lane for the rest of 2007, fueling optimism over profitability at overseas-invested firms," said Li Mingliang, an analyst at Haitong Securities Co.

"Surging domestic demand also served to lure foreign companies to transfer their target markets to China."

The country's gross domestic product may expand 11.4 percent in the three months through September, cooling a bit from the 11.9 percent rise in the second quarter but still strong, according to a report by the State Information Center, a research unit under the National Development and Reform Commission.

Consumer spending remained robust in the first half, growing 15.4 percent to 4.2 trillion yuan (US$553.90 billion). The quarterly rise was 15.8 percent though June, following 14.9 percent three months earlier.

Analysts said cheap labor and land costs encouraged overseas companies to transfer manufacturing to China. Products made in China and sold to other markets have been the major driver of rapid export growth in recent years.

China's trade surplus settled at US$24.35 billion last month with a 34.2 percent increase in exports, pushing the gap to US$136.8 billion so far this year, compared with US$177.5 billion for the entire 2006.

The nation's top planning body has forecast that the surplus will swell to between US$250 billion and US$300 billion this year.