Fixed-assets investment slows

Investment in fixed assets across 23 provincial-level ­regions slowed down in the first half of this year, the China News Service (CNS) reported Monday, but analysts expect the pace will pick up in the second half given local authorities' ­efforts to maintain growth.

The average growth rate of the country's 31 provinces, regions and municipalities was 23.87 percent in the first half, lower than 25.72 percent growth in the first half of 2012, according to data compiled by the CNS.

The combined fixed-assets investment of the 31 provincial-level regions amounted to 19.04 trillion yuan ($3.1 trillion) in the first half, which is 910 billion yuan higher than the national figure released by the National Bureau of Statistics.

"The discrepancy of national and provincial data is mainly due to different data collection methods and some overlapping calculations of cross-regional investments," Bai Pengming, a macroeconomy analyst at Shenzhen-based CIC Industry Research Center, told the Global Times Monday.

The year-on-year growth rate of fixed-assets investment in western regions was higher than in the eastern areas. Eight of the top 10 regions with highest grow rate in the first half are ­located in western China.

"As central authorities ­depend on western regions to take over industries transferred from eastern and coastal areas, investment in western regions' transportation infrastructure is robust and will continue to ­increase," Bai said.

Analysts expect the fixed-asset investment will pick up momentum in the second half, as many local governments are trying to expand economic ­activities to achieve their annual growth targets.

"Local governments are still relying heavily on investment to boost local economic growth, but such a strategy will further add to their debt burdens, inflate property bubbles and ­affect the central government's efforts to curb industrial overcapacity," Xie Yifeng, head of the Asia-Pacific Real Estate ­Association, told the Global Times Monday.

East China's Jiangsu Province ranked top among the 31 provincial-level regions in terms of the value of the fixed-assets investment in the first half, but media reports claimed the local government is also facing a heavy debt problem.

China will maintain reasonable growth of investment in the second half, especially in fields such as the railways and improvement of shanty areas, Xu Shaoshi, head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). China's top economic planner, said in an online interview with the Xinhua News Agency on July 31.

Bank of Communications expects the country's annual growth rate of fixed-assets investment will reach 20.4 percent in 2013, up from 20.1 percent in the first half and slightly down from 20.6 percent in 2012.

Investment in the ­property and infrastructure sectors will maintain a relatively high growth rate, while investment in the manufacturing sector will remain modest because of low profit margins of industrial enterprises, the bank said in a research note published last month.

The NDRC is likely to speed up the approval of projects in energy, transportation infrastructure and environmental protection industries, the note said.