China's urban fixed assets investment totaled 8.492 trillion yuan (US$1.248 trillion) in the first eight months, up 27.4 percent from the same period last year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Wednesday.

The growth rate was 0.1 percentage point higher than the January-July level, or 0.7 percentage point higher than the year-earlier level.

Investment in the real estate sector grew 29.1 percent to 1.84 trillion yuan, according to the NBS. The growth rate was 4.4 percentage points lower than that of the first half.

According to the NBS, the growth rate in the primary sector (farming, fishing, forestry) was the fastest among the three major sectors in the first seven months, up 63.5 percent, compared with the secondary sector at 28.8 percent and the tertiary sector at 25.5 percent.

Statistics from the NBS showed investment in projects authorized by the central government rose 27.7 percent in the first eight months over the same period of 2007. In local government-approved projects, investment expanded by 27.4 percent.

(Xinhua News Agency September 10, 2008)