China's fixed-asset investment falls 7.2% in 1st 9 months

By Mucahithan Avcioglu

ISTANBUL (AA) - China's fixed-asset investment fell 7.2% year-on-year in the first nine months of 2026, slightly less than market expectations of a 7.3% decline, official data showed Monday.

Investment in fixed assets, excluding rural households, totaled 33.41 trillion yuan ($4.99 trillion) in January–September, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

The pace of decline was unchanged from January–August. Excluding property development, fixed-asset investment fell 4.2%.

Property development investment plunged 20.6% year-on-year, while infrastructure investment dropped 4.2% and manufacturing investment decreased 2.1%.

Private investment fell 10.4% during the nine-month period. Excluding property development, private investment declined 6.7%.

Industrial investment decreased 2.8% overall. Mining investment rose 3.2%, while investment in electricity, heating, gas and water production and supply fell 6.8%.

Despite the broader decline, investment in high-tech industries increased 4.9%.

Within those industries, investment in information services climbed 20.2%, while aviation, spacecraft and related equipment manufacturing investment rose 12.5%. Electronic and communication equipment manufacturing investment increased 7.6%.

Investment in intellectual property products grew 9.3%, while spending on equipment and tools increased 9.7%.

On a monthly basis, fixed-asset investment edged up 0.07% in September, following a 0.55% decline in August.

Mücahithan Avcıoğlu