China's fixed-asset investment reports narrowing decline

China's fixed-asset investment (FAI) edged down 0.3 percent year on year during the January-August period, with the decline narrowing from the 1.6-percent fall in the first seven months, official data showed Tuesday.

In the first eight months, the FAI amounted to 37.88 trillion yuan (about 5.55 trillion U.S. dollars), according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Investment by the state sector went up 3.2 percent during the period, while private-sector investment fell 2.8 percent, with the drop narrowing 2.9 percentage points from that in the first seven months.

Investment in the primary industry went up 11.5 percent, accelerating from the 7.7-percent rise in the first seven months, while that in the secondary sector fell 4.8 percent. Investment in the tertiary industry edged up 1.4 percent.

Meanwhile, investment in high-tech manufacturing and services surged 8.8 percent and 7.2 percent year on year, respectively.

On a month-on-month basis, FAI rose 4.18 percent in August.

The FAI includes capital spent on infrastructure, property, machinery and other physical assets.

The figures are part of a series of indicators released by the NBS, including industrial production and retail sales, which showed the economy on a recovery track amid effective epidemic control.