New foreign direct investment pledged to South Korea jumped 10 percent to hit a fresh record high in 2015 on a large increase in investments from China, the government said Wednesday.

The new FDI pledges came to US$20.9 billion last year, up from the previous record of $19 billion set in 2014, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The amount of new FDI arrivals here also soared 32.3 percent on-year to a record high of $16 billion in 2015.

Last year's jump was attributed to a 66.3 percent on-year surge in Chinese investment pledges worth $2 billion on the back of the Seoul-Beijing free trade agreement that took effect last month.

New FDI pledges from the United States jumped 51.8 percent on-year to some $5.5 billion, with those from the Middle East vaulting more than sixfold to $1.4 billion.

On the other hand, fresh FDI pledges from the European Union tumbled 61.6 percent to $2.5 billion, with those from Japan sinking 33.1 percent to $1.7 billion.

"The FDI in 2015 went on a recovery pace in the second half as the South Korea-China FTA and the president's overseas trips helped get the country out of an earlier sluggish mode," said the ministry in a release.

"In the new year, South Korea's FDI is expected to remain steady around $20 billion on the back of a modest recovery in the United States and the world economy, the effects of the FTA and our efforts to create a foreign investor-friendly environment." (Yonhap)