Economy still faces downward pressure

Growth in fixed-asset investment, especially for the private sector, continued to weaken in July, indicating that the economy still faces heavy downward pressure, a spokesman for the National Bureau of Statistics said at a news briefing on Friday.

Fixed-asset investment increased by 8.1 percent in the first seven months year-on-year, compared with 9 percent in the first six months.

Fixed-asset investment in the private sector expanded by 2.1 percent in the first seven months, down from 2.8 percent in the January-June period and double-digit growth last year.