China's fixed-asset investment down 6.3% in Jan-May

BEIJING - China's fixed-asset investment declined 6.3 percent year-on-year to 19.92 trillion yuan ($2.8 trillion) in the first five months of 2020, the National Bureau of Statistics said Monday.

The fall narrowed by 4 percentage points from that in the first four months.

In breakdown, investment in the primary industry stayed unchanged from the same period last year, while that in the secondary and tertiary industries went down 11.8 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively.

Investment in infrastructure declined 6.3 percent year-on-year, narrowing by 5.5 percentage points from the first four months.

The growing trend of medium- and long-term corporate loans as well as the accelerating issuance of local government special bonds will spur the further recovery of infrastructure investment, said Wen Bin, chief analyst at China Minsheng Bank.

Investment in high-tech industries increased 1.9 percent in the first five months, rebounding from the 3-percent drop in the January-April period, the bureau said.

Private investment decreased 9.6 percent during the period, according to the bureau.

Monday's data also showed China's investment in property development went down 0.3 percent year-on-year in the period, with the rate narrowing 3 percentage points from the first four months.

The country's fixed-asset investment in May went up 5.87 percent from April, the bureau added.

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