China's investment in fixed assets in the first quarter of this year totaled 1.7526 trillion yuan (227.6 billion U.S. dollars), up 23.7 percent, 4 percentage points lower than the same 2006 period, official figures showed.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said the investment in urban areas reached 1.4544 trillion, up 25.3 percent, while the investment in the country's rural area came to 298.2 billion yuan, up 16.7 percent.

The investment in primary, secondary and tertiary industries rose by 20.3 percent, 27.0 percent and 24.0 percent, respectively.

The real estate sector witnessed an investment of 354.4 billion yuan in the first three months, up 26.9 percent, 6.7 percentage points higher than the same 2006 period.

China invested 246.2 billion yuan in building houses, up 30.4 percent, 7.3 percentage points higher than the rise at the same time last year.

In particular, houses affordable for low-income families were built with 8.8 billion yuan, up 41.6 percent, accounting for 2.5 percent of the total investment in the housing sector.

The first three months saw the fixed assets investment in urban areas of eastern, central and western China grew by 21.4 percent, 35.8 percent and 26.8 percent, respectively.

The increases in central and western regions were 1.6 percentage point and 0.2 percentage point higher than the rise at the same time last year.

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