Foreign direct investment or FDI got off to a cracking start in the first quarter of the current year in Lishui city, located in East China's Zhejiang province, local media reported recently.

During the period the city is understood to have posted robust growth in both its foreign investment utilization and its outbound investment.

From January to March, four newly registered foreign invested enterprises in Lishui deployed foreign capital of $57.19 million – exceeding by far the estimate of $15 million.

The companies in question were engaged in off-highway recreational vehicles and spare parts manufacturing, the digital content industry and the transport services sector.

In Q1, the international expansion of Lishui enterprises also increased.

One new project – with registered overseas Chinese investment of $9.8 million – involved a trading company set up by Zhejiang Taotao Vehicles Co Ltd in Delaware, in the US.