HANOI, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam has seen an increasing figure of foreign direct investment (FDI) from China in the first two months of 2017, according to the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment on Thursday.

A total of 721.7 million U.S. dollars of Chinese FDI was recorded in Vietnam in two-month period, up 152.78 percent year-on-year, accounting for 21 percent of the country's total FDI, said FIA, adding that China has become the second largest FDI contributor to Vietnam, after Singapore.

Specifically, in January-February period, Chinese investors have registered to implement 123 projects and 174 times of share purchase. Some typical projects by Chinese investors during the period include Billion Vietnam polyester synthetic fiber plant (with investment of 220 million U.S. dollars) in central Tay Ninh province, infrastructure construction in Lan Son industrial complex and Khai Hong Viet plastic factory (150 million U.S. dollars) in northern Bac Giang provinces among others, local Tien Phong (Pioneer) newspaper quoted the agency as saying.

According to local economist Le Xuan Nghia, in the coming time, a trend of transferring Chinese capital into Southeast Asian countries including Vietnam will be seen. In other Southeast Asian nations such as the Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand, Chinese investors also pour money in giant projects, said Nghia.