China's fixed-asset investment growth continues to pick up

BEIJING - China continued to see faster growth in fixed-asset investment (FAI) thanks to robust high-tech investment in the first quarter of 2019, official data showed Wednesday.

FAI grew 6.3 percent year-on-year in Q1, 0.2 percentage points faster than the first two months of 2019 and 0.4 percentage points faster than the whole year of 2018, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Compared with the same period of last year, the growth was down 1.2 percentage points.

In March, FAI rose 0.45 percent from the previous month.

The FAI in Q1 amounted to 10.187 trillion yuan ($1.5 trillion), according to the NBS.

"Investment has steadily recovered, with that in high-tech industries recording relatively fast growth," the NBS said in a statement.

In Q1, investment in high-tech manufacturing and services posted vigorous gains of 11.4 percent and 19.3 percent year-on-year, respectively.

Private investment, accounting for around 60 percent of the total FAI, posted a 6.4-percent year-on-year increase, also outpacing the overall growth, the NBS data showed.

Investment in the primary and secondary industries rose 3 percent and 4.2 percent, respectively, while that in the tertiary industry went up 7.5 percent.

Wednesday's data also showed steady expansion in the broader economy, as the country's GDP grew 6.4 percent year-on-year in Q1, level with that of Q4 2018 and within the government annual target of 6-6.5 percent.