 Fixed-asset investment up 27% in first 7 months
By Wang Xu (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-16 07:59 The country's fixed-asset investment expanded 27.3 percent in the first seven months from a year ago, a sign that robust domestic demand is helping the nation to cope with weakening exports. Spending on fixed assets such as plants, bridges and roads amounted to 7.22 trillion yuan ($1 trillion) by the end of last month, the National Bureau of Statistics said. The growth was faster than the 26.8 percent rise for the first half of the year. Investment in real estate was particularly strong, up nearly 31 percent from a year earlier. Meanwhile, investment in coal, oil and railways also grew more than 30 percent. "The figure, combined with earlier retail sales statistics, shows domestic demand has remained stable," Wang Tongsan, an economist with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said. Retail sales growth rose 23.3 percent last month over the same period last year, and up from June's figure of 23 percent. Retail sales growth has been accelerating since this February, although consumer inflation has being moderating during the same period. However, economic growth slowed to 10.5 percent in the first half, down from 11.9 percent for the whole of last year. A weaker export sector is seen as one of the reasons for the slowdown. China's trade surplus slid 9.6 percent year-on-year in the first seven months. Some economists expressed concern that China tightened the flow of credit too much in its effort to curb high inflation, but the government's focus now appears to have shifted to promoting growth. According to the NBS, investment in China's agricultural sector grew 61.9 percent in the first seven months. Analysts have said hefty investment in agriculture will help boost agricultural output in the nation and stabilize food prices for the rest of the year. (China Daily 08/16/2008 page2) |
