Manufacturing sector investment up 8.7%

China's investment in manufacturing grew 8.7 percent year-on-year in the first three quarters of 2018, signaling that corporate expectations for the future of the economy are improving despite mounting global trade uncertainties, the country's top industry regulator said on Tuesday.

Xin Guobin, vice-minister of industry and information technology, said the figure was 4.5 percentage points higher than that of the same period last year, indicating the resilience of China's sprawling manufacturing sector.

"Now we are very glad to see that the monthly investment growth rate has been rising for six straight months," Xin said at a news conference in Beijing.