China registers steady investment growth in H1

BEIJING - China maintained steady growth in fixed-asset investment in the first half of this year, with rapid investment growth in high-tech sectors, official data showed Monday.

The country's fixed-asset investment grew 5.8 percent year-on-year in H1, 0.2 percentage points faster than the growth in the first five months, the National Bureau of Statistics said on its website.

In the period, total investment amounted to 29.91 trillion yuan ($4.4 trillion), the data showed.

Private-sector investment increased 5.7 percent to 18.03 trillion yuan, 0.4 percentage points faster than that in the first five months.

Fixed-asset investment includes capital spent on infrastructure, property, machinery and other physical assets.

Investment in high-tech manufacturing surged 10.4 percent, 4.6 percentage points faster than total investment growth, while investment in high-tech services also registered faster-than-average growth of 13.5 percent.

Investment in the primary industry went down 0.6 percent year-on-year, while that in secondary and tertiary industries rose 2.9 percent and 7.4 percent, respectively.

China's real estate investment increased 10.9 percent year-on-year in H1, slower than the 11.8-percent expansion recorded in the first quarter, the data showed.

The figures were among a series of indicators released by the bureau on Monday, including industrial production and retail sales, which showed that the Chinese economy remained on a stable track.