China approves projects worth over $8b in April

BEIJING - China's economic planning agency approved 15 fixed-asset investment (FAI) projects with combined investment totaling 51.7 billion yuan ($8.1 billion) in April.

The projects were mainly in social service programs and high-tech industries, Meng Wei, spokesperson for the National Development and Reform Commission, told a press briefing on Wednesday.

Data showed that China's FAI rose 7 percent in the first four months of the year, down from 7.5 percent for January-March and marking growth deceleration for two consecutive months.

Infrastructure investment increased 12.4 percent year-on-year for January-April, slightly down from 13 percent in the first three months.

The government attributed the slowdown to efforts to regulate the public-private partnerships (PPP) program and financing activities of local governments.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Liu Aihua, spokesperson for the National Bureau of Statistics, said infrastructure investment would maintain stable and sustainable growth in the long term as China remains the world's largest developing country and there has been huge potential in expanding infrastructure investment.

FAI includes capital spent on infrastructure, property, machinery, and other physical assets.