Private investment grows fast in H1

Private investment in China's monopolized industries and public service sector grew rapidly in the first half thanks to the government's efforts to boost private funds, an official at the National Development and Reform Commission said on Aug 7.

Private investment in oil and gas exploration, a sector long dominated by state-owned companies, increased 89.2 percent year-on-year in the first half, 85.9 percentage points higher than the industry average, according to Xinhua News Agency, citing an anonymous official.

Private investment in the education and health sectors increased 40.2 percent and 43.1 percent respectively year-on-year during the same period.

The figures showed the government's measures encouraging private funds to enter more sectors have helped stabilize investment growth this year, said the official.

China's private fixed-assets investment rose 25.8 percent year-on-year to 9.37 trillion yuan ($1.48 trillion) in July, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday.

China's manufacturing investment kept a stable growth rate of around 25 percent year-on-year during the first half largely because private investment contributed more than 80 percent of the overall manufacturing investment, said the official.

Feng Fei, head of the Research Department of Industrial Economics under the Development Research Center of the State Council, said the potential of private investment should be further unleashed.

"Attracting more private investment could help improve the efficiency of the monopolized industries," Feng said.