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China urban fixed-asset investment up 32.9% in first seven months

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-08-11 14:12

China's urban fixed-asset investment rose 32.9 percent in the first seven months of this year from a year earlier to 9.59 trillion yuan ($1.4 trillion), the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced Tuesday.

The growth rate was 5.6 percentage points higher than the same period of last year, but 0.7 percentage points lower than the first half of this year, when urban fixed-asset investment rose 33.6 percent from a year earlier.

June alone saw a 35.3-percent rise. The NBS provided no monthly figures for July.

Peng Wensheng, analyst with Barclays Capital, said in a statement e-mailed to Xinhua that the slowdown in new lending may have contributed to the moderation in urban fixed-asset investment growth.

Chinese banks extended 355.9 billion yuan of yuan-dominated loans in July, less than a quarter of the June total of more than 1.5 trillion yuan.

Special Coverage: China Biz & Economic Statistics Related readings:   China's urban fixed asset investment to rise 40% in 2009  Fixed-asset investment increases steadily  Li Zhiqun: globalization key to Fair for Investment and Trade development  China's forex reserve not investment fund: central banker

Zhu Baoliang, an economist with the State Information Center, a government thinktank, said the growth rate was below expectations, and the slower increase resulted from commercial banks tightening lending in the second half to prevent a rise in bad debt after a record surge.

The growth rate in the primary sector (including farming, fishing and forestry) jumped 62.5 percent from a year earlier.

The industrial sector saw investment rise 27.8 percent and the tertiary sector, covering commerce, finance and services, saw a 36.5-percent growth.

China unveiled a 4-trillion-yuan stimulus package in November to boost investment in factories, property, roads and other facilities to counter falling exports and fuel growth of the world's third largest economy.