China's fixed asset investment rose to 7.19 trillion yuan (US$899.3 billion) in the first nine months of this year, up by 27.3 percent from the same period last year, a spokesman of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said here on Thursday.

Li Xiaochao said the growth rate was 1.2 percentage points higher than that of the same period of last year, but 2.5 percentage points lower than the growth rate in the first half.

Fixed asset investment in urban areas amounted to 6.19 trillion yuan (US$773.5 billion), up 28.2 percent year on year, he said.

In September alone, the investment in urban areas hit 928.6 billion yuan (US$116 billion), up 23.6 percent from the same month the previous year.

Li said investment in real estate, a sector the Chinese central government has been desperately trying to cool down, reached 1.29 trillion yuan (US$161.3 billion), an increase of 24.3 percent from the corresponding period of 2005.

Investment in the coal industry was up 36.4 percent, oil and natural gas up 19.3 percent, power 16.1 percent and the railways 107 percent.

The food manufacturing sector saw investment up by 48.3 percent and textiles by 27.9 percent.

The sharp rise in fixed asset investment, which is considered a major factor fueling China's economic growth, is potentially risky as the country is trying to re-orient its economy in a more efficient and environmentally-friendly direction.

The government has enacted a slew of macro control policies, including interest rate hikes and tightening credit and land supply, to rein in the excess investment.

(Xinhua News Agency October 19, 2006)