South Korean companies' investment in China reached an eight-year high in 2014 amid their growing interest in the world's second-largest economy following the conclusion of a bilateral free trade deal, data showed Sunday.

South Korean firms invested a combined $3.97 billion in China last year, up 29.7 percent from the previous year, according to the data by the Beijing office of the Korea International Trade Association.

The amount accounted for 3.3 percent of overall foreign direct investment in China, up from 2.6 percent a year earlier.

As of the end of last year, South Korean companies' cumulative investment in China stood at $59.82 billion.

Last year, foreign direct investment in China totaled $119.6 billion in 2014, up 1.7 percent from the previous year, according to the data.

KITA attributed the jump in South Korean investment in China to growing expectations that the bilateral free trade agreement, signed in November last year, could help South Korean companies tap deeper into the Chinese market. (Yonhap)