China's urban fixed assets investment totaled 2.2594 trillion yuan (289.67 billion U.S. dollars) in the first four months, up 25.5 percent from the same 2006 period, the National Bureau of Statistics said Thursday.

The monthly rise was 0.2 percentage points higher than in the first quarter this year and 4.1 percentage points lower than during the same period last year.

The real estate sector saw investment soar 27.4 percent, which was 6.1 percentage points higher than the rise a year ago, to 526.5 billion yuan.

The nonmetal mineral sector recorded a 48.3-percent increase in investment, outperforming any other sector. The ferrous metal sector followed, with investment up 47.2 percent.

Investment in the petroleum and natural gas extraction sector was up 25.6 percent, while the coal and steel sectors rose 14.7 percent and 4.9 percent respectively.

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