China's fixed-asset investment up 15.8%

BEIJING - China's fixed-asset investment rose 15.8 percent from one year earlier to 45.11 trillion yuan ($7.37 trillion) in the first 11 months of 2014, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Friday.

But the pace of growth slowed further from the 15.9 percent growth registered in the January-October period and 16.1 percent growth in the January-September period.

Investment growth was sluggish, in line with the market forecast of 15.8 percent, said Bob Liu, an analyst at the China International Capital Corp (CICC).

The calculation does not include fixed-asset investment by farmers. It covers projects with investment of at least 5 million yuan, as well as all property development projects.

Between January and November, fixed-asset investment in primary industry grew the most, up 29.9 percent year on year to 1.09 trillion yuan. This growth is one percentage point higher than that recorded in the first ten months.

Fixed-asset investment in tertiary industry grew 17.1 percent to 25.2 trillion yuan, up 17.1 percent year on year. But growth was 0.3 percentage points lower than the first ten months.

Fixed-asset investment in secondary industry saw 13.3 percent growth year on year. Growth dropped 0.1 percentage point from the first ten months.

Fixed-asset investment in China's western regions witnessed the fastest growth, with 17.7 percent growth from a year earlier to hit 11.47 trillion yuan. Investment in the central regions grew 17.4 percent year on year to 12.65 trillion yuan. Eastern regions attracted 20.58 trillion yuan in fixed-asset investment, up 14.5 percent year on year.

Private fixed-asset investment climbed 17.9 percent year on year in the first 11 months to 29.13 trillion yuan. But the growth rate was 0.1 percentage point lower than that in the first ten months.

Investment in property rose 11.9 percent year on year in the first 11 months to 8.66 trillion yuan. But the growth rate was 0.5 percentage points lower than in the first ten months.

Property investment growth continued to slide, and leading indicators such as new starts and land sales weakened further, suggesting that developers' outlook remains cautious, said Zhang Zhiwei, an economist with Nomura Securities.

Investment will continue to play a key role in China's economic growth, said a statement issued after the Central Economic Work Conference, a crucial economic policy meeting, on Thursday.