PHNOM PENH -- Cambodia had approved fixed-asset investment projects worth $9.5 billion in the first 11 months of 2025, a year-on-year rise of 47 percent, the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) said on Thursday.

The Southeast Asian country approved 609 investment projects during the January-November period this year, up 56 percent from 389 projects over the same period last year, generating about 425,000 jobs, the CDC said.

Those registered investment projects had been mainly focused on garment and non-garment manufacturing industries, infrastructure, agriculture and agro-industry, and tourism, the agency said.

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China remained the top foreign investor in the kingdom, accounting for 52.6 percent of the total investment amount, the CDC said, adding that other foreign investors were from Singapore, Vietnam, the British Virgin Islands, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Cayman Islands, Samoa, and Bermuda.

Cambodian Ministry of Commerce's Secretary of State and Spokesperson Penn Sovicheat said the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and Cambodia's bilateral free trade agreements with China, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates are key factors in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI).

"New FDI will bring about new capital, technologies and job opportunities for our people," he told Xinhua.