China's transport investment sees stable rise in Q1

BEIJING - China's fixed-asset investment (FAI) in transport reported steady growth in the first quarter, official data showed.

FAI increased 4.8 percent year-on-year to stand high at 488.9 billion yuan ($72.64 billion) in the period, the Ministry of Transport said in a statement.

Total investment in highways and waterways took the lion's share of FAI with an inflow of 372.2 billion yuan in the first three months, a year-on-year growth of 3.3 percent.

Specifically, investment in expressways expanded 12.6 percent to reach 191.5 billion yuan while that of coastal construction recorded the fastest growth rate of 26.1 percent to 10 billion yuan, according to the ministry.

China will expand infrastructure investment in 2019, including 800 billion yuan in railway construction and 1.8 trillion yuan in road construction and waterway projects, according to a government work report.