China’s fixed-asset investment (excluding rural households) rose 1.8% year-on-year in January–February to RMB 5.27 trillion, the National Bureau of Statistics reported, with February’s month-on-month gain a modest 0.39%. The headline number masks a mixed picture: state-linked infrastructure and utilities delivered most of the momentum while private and foreign investment contracted.
Breaking down the composition, primary-industry spending jumped 17.4% to about RMB 109.3 billion, but that component is small relative to the rest of the economy. Secondary-industry investment — the industrial and construction engine that includes manufacturing — advanced 5.4% to roughly RMB 1.74 trillion, while tertiary-sector investment, the largest share, slipped 0.4% to about RMB 3.42 trillion. Within industry, mining and utilities posted the strongest gains, while manufacturing expanded only 3.1%.
Infrastructure investment grew 11.4%, underscoring a continued policy emphasis on public works as a growth stabiliser. Transport- and energy-related projects led the pack: aviation investment surged 31.1%, gas production and supply rose 20.0%, and waterborne transport climbed 17.9%. These sectoral performances point to targeted, state-backed spending that concentrates resources where authorities see strategic or short-term growth returns.
Regional and ownership splits expose lingering weaknesses. The eastern and central regions recorded marginal growth of 1.8% and 1.9% respectively, while the western region fell 0.5% and the northeast contracted sharply by 11.4%. By investor type, domestically funded enterprises increased investment by 2.1%, but Hong Kong–Macau–Taiwan firms cut outlays by 3.0% and foreign-funded companies reduced theirs by 9.1%, signalling an unease among overseas and cross-border investors.
The figures reinforce a familiar theme in China’s recovery: public spending is propping up headline numbers while private-sector capex and foreign direct investment remain sluggish. With real estate investment still in double-digit decline, policymakers face a policy trade-off between leaning on local-government-backed infrastructure projects to sustain growth and restoring private and foreign confidence through structural reforms and clearer signals on the business environment. Absent a pickup in private capex and FDI, growth will likely remain dependent on cyclical and targeted fiscal measures.