BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) -- China's urban fixed
asset investment rose 26.5 percent year-on-year to 1.027 trillion yuan (150.35
billion U.S. dollars) in the first two months of 2009, the National Bureau of
Statistics (NBS) said Wednesday.
The pace of growth was higher than the same period in
2008, when urban fixed asset investment expanded 24.3 percent. It was also
higher than the 26.1 percent annual growth last year.
Workers laying tracks on the Fuzhou-Xiamen railway in Fujian province. (Photo Source: China Daily/Jiang Kehong) Photo Gallery>>>
"The acceleration in investment reflected the
positive effect of the 4-trillion yuan stimulus package in boosting the economy.
We can see a big increase in investment with government support," said Zhuang
Jian, senior economist with the Asian Development Bank.
Fan Jianping, economist with the State Information
Center, supported that interpretation. Fan added that real investment growth was
probably higher than the raw numbers indicated, because the prices of industrial
materials such as steel, nonferrous metal and fuels had been declining since
late 2008.
Also, statistics jointly released Tuesday by the NBS
and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) showed that both
consumer and producer prices fell last month, with year-on-year declines of 1.6
percent and 4.5 percent, respectively.
MORE PROJECTS, MORE SPENDING
In the January-February period, investment in
projects authorized by the central government rose 40.3 percent, while spending
on projects approved by local governments increased 25.1 percent.
Of 78,696 projects in progress nationwide, 18,533
were new, up 28 percent from a year earlier. Total planned investment in these
projects was 743.7 billion yuan, up 87.5 percent.
"The jump in new projects showed many industries
started construction at the beginning of 2009, encouraged by the stimulus plan,"
said Fan.
A particularly significant increase was in railway
and other transport investment, which jumped 210 percent to 63.1 billion yuan.
Zhang Hanya, economist with the Research Institute of
Investment under the NDRC, said the leap in spending was in line with the
stimulus plan, in which infrastructure construction had priority.
Among the three industry sectors, the growth rate was
highest in the primary industry sector (farming, fishing, forestry and the
like), up 100.3 percent.
The secondary sector saw investment rise 24.8 percent
and the tertiary sector by 26.9 percent.
However, real estate investment growth nearly ground
to a halt, rising just 1 percent to 239.8 billion yuan, compared with a 32.9
percent gain a year earlier.
The property slowdown wasn't surprising, Fan said.
Real estate spending grew rapidly for nearly a decade, but it was being affected
by the economic slowdown. Construction activity had slowed in the second half of
2008 and would take time to recover, he said.
CONTINUED EXPANSION
Economists said investment was likely to continue
growth during the rest of 2009, with more funds poised for spending.
The jumps in new projects and ready funds indicated
promising prospects for investment growth, said Fan, referring to a 33.6 percent
year-on-year expansion of spending to 1.8 trillion yuan in position for urban
projects.
"New projects in January and February will receive
more government and private fund injections in six to 12 months, keeping fixed
asset spending at a high level in the fourth quarter of 2009 and the first
quarter of 2010," Zhang told Xinhua.
Zhuang urged China to do more to encourage
private-sector investment, as growth could not be achieved with government
spending alone.
BEIJING, March 10 (Xinhua) -- China's producer price
index (PPI) fell for the third straight month, dropping 4.5 percent year on year
in February, the National Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday.
The decline in the PPI, a major measure of inflation
at the wholesale level, was 1.2 percentage points higher than the month-earlier
level. Full story
BEIJING, March 10 (Xinhua) -- China's consumer price
index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, fell 1.6 percent year-on-year in
February, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Tuesday.
This was the first monthly fall since December 2002,
when prices slid 0.4 percent. Full story
BEIJING, Feb. 11 -- The consumer price index
(CPI) in January rose only 1 percent year-on-year, the lowest in 30 months, and
the other measure of inflation, the producer price index (PPI), dropped 3.3
percent.
That prompted economists to say the economy may have
bottomed out and could start growing again within a few months.Full story
BEIJING, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- China's consumer price index
(CPI), a major gauge of inflation, rose by 1 percent in January over the same
month last year, the National Bureau of Statistics announced Tuesday.
The rise was 0.2 percentage points lower than the previous
month. Full story
BEIJING, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- China's consumer price
index (CPI), the main gauge of inflation, rose 5.9 percent last year after price
pressures began to ease in May, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said
here Thursday.
The CPI was 1.1 percentage points higher than the
level in 2007,which was also the official target for 2008. Full story
