China's fixed-asset investment expands 5.7 pct in first seven months

BEIJING, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- China's fixed-asset investment went up 5.7 percent year on year in the first seven months of this year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Monday.

Fixed-asset investment from January to July totaled 31.98 trillion yuan (about 4.74 trillion U.S. dollars), the NBS said in a statement.

The growth slowed from a 6.1-percent increase posted in the first half of this year. In July, fixed-asset investment picked up 0.16 percent from June.

From January to July, fixed-asset investment from the private sector increased 2.7 percent from a year earlier to 17.8 trillion yuan.

Investment in infrastructure and manufacturing gained 7.4 percent and 9.9 percent year on year during the period, respectively.

NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui said at a press conference Monday that stepped-up pro-investment measures and local authorities actively pushing forward the construction of major projects including the new infrastructure, transport and water conservancy projects, are all conducive to expanding the investment in infrastructure.

Investment in property development went down 6.4 percent year on year in the first seven months.

Investment into the high-tech industries saw stellar growth, with the manufacturing and services sectors jumping by 22.9 percent and 14.3 percent year on year, respectively, NBS data showed.

China has undertaken a flurry of pro-investment initiatives. The country has promised a moderately proactive approach to advance infrastructure investment in this year's government work report.

In the first half of the year, local governments in China have issued 3.41 trillion yuan worth of new special bonds, which offered support to over 23,800 projects, 13,000 of them being newly launched, according to the Ministry of Finance.