China’s fixed-asset investment witnessed steady growth in the first two months of this year in the latest signal of a sustained economic recovery, official data showed on Wednesday.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in a statement said that the fixed-asset investment went up to 5.5 per cent year on year to 5.3577 trillion yuan (about 780 billion dollars) in January and February combined.
The statement said that 0.4 percentage points higher than the full-year growth rate of 2022.
In breakdown, investment in infrastructure construction reported a robust 9-percent increase in the period, and manufacturing investment also maintained growth momentum, up 8.1 per cent.
However, capital inflows in property development slipped 5.7 per cent.
NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui told a press conference on Wednesday that investment would continue to drive China’s economic growth and the country would step up investment to address the problem of unbalanced and inadequate development.
Wednesday’s data showed that high-tech industries came as a bright spot, with investment up 15.1 per cent, specifically in high-tech manufacturing and services expanded by 16.2 per cent and 12.3 per cent, respectively.
More capital support was also given to improving people’s livelihoods as investment in public health and education went up 18.8 per cent and 4.8 per cent, respectively.
Linghui, pointed out that the real estate market has seen some positive changes despite the continued drop in property investment.
He said that the investment decline narrowed from last year’s 10 per cent to 5.7 per cent in January and February, home sales also logged smaller declines in both floor area and value.
Linghui said that he property market was still under adjustment and would gradually stabilize with the improvement of the overall economy and market expectations.
