Aug. 18 – China’s urban fixed assets investment for the first half of the year increased by 27 percent to RMB7.22 trillion beating forecasts.

Property investment was strong at a 31 percent increase from last year’s figures to reach RMB1.58 trillion.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the farming, fishing, forestry sectors expanded by 61.9 percent compared with the secondary sectors at 27.9 percent and the tertiary sectors at 26 percent.

In addition, projects approved by the central government were up by 25.3 percent while local government-approved projects investment rose by 27.5 percent.

Domestic investment in the country remained strong while exports slowed due to declining global demand.

“Investment plays a very important role in expanding domestic demand and sustaining stable growth,” Wang Tongsan, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences told the BBC.

Jing Ulrich, chairman of China equities at JP Morgan added that the increase in investment would probably “help alleviate concerns about the magnitude of China’s economic slowdown.”