Jan-Feb investment rises 24%

Fixed-assets investment in cities and towns rose 24.3 percent in the first two months from the same period a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement on Friday.

Although the figure is lower than the overall 25.8 percent growth for 2007, it did rebound from 20.1 percent last December, when the government's austerity measures started to take effect.

Investment in the real estate sector led the spending spree with a year-on-year growth rate of 32.9 percent. Meanwhile, the total number of new projects amounted to 14,447, a jump of 40 percent from a year ago.