China Jan-Sep Fixed-Asset Investment Growth Slows For 6th Mth

--YTD Growth Rate Lowest Since Jan-December 1999 

     BEIJING (MNI) - Fixed-asset investment growth in China was weaker than

expected in the first nine months of the year due to slowdowns in manufactural

spending and private investment, according to statistics released Thursday by

the National Bureau of Statistics.  

     Fixed-asset investment totaled CNY45.85 trillion in the January-September

period, up 7.5% from the year-earlier period but lower than the 7.8% gain in the

first eight months and the 7.8% increase expected in a Market News Survey. 

     The headline reading was the lowest growth rate since the January-December

1999 period, when it was just 6.3%. It was the six consecutive month that the

year-to-date investment growth rate has slowed down.

     The year-to-September figure did suffer from an unfavorable basis effect.

The month-on-month gain was 0.56% in September, basically stable after gains of

0.54% in August and 0.57% in July.

     Most investment categories showed a softening growth trend.

     Investment in the agricultural sector grew 11.8% year-on-year to CNY1.50

trillion in the first nine months, down 0.4 percentage point from the 12.2%

growth in the first eight months, the NBS said. 

     Industrial sector investment grew 2.6% y/y to CNY17.18 trillion, 0.6

percentage point lower than the January-August period. Within the industrial

sector, investment in manufacturing grew 4.2% y/y in the first nine months,

compared with 4.5% growth in the January-August period. 

     Mining sector investment continued to shrink, falling 9.2% on an annualized

basis, from a 7% decrease during the first eight months. 

     Investment in the services sector grew 10.5% to CNY27.17 trillion in the

first nine months, down 0.1 percentage point from the January-August period, the

NBS said.

     Infrastructure investment growth inched down to 19.8% year-on-year,

identical to the growth rate in the January-August period. 

     "Investment in manufacturing sector slowed down mainly because of

production restrictions due to environmental protection pressure," Xie Yunliang,

an analyst with Guotai Junan Securities, told MNI after the release. 

     In the first nine months this year, private investment, a main contributor

to overall growth, also slowed, rising 6%, down from 6.4% in the January-August

period. Private sector investment accounted for 60.5% of total fixed-asset

investment during the first nine months of the year.

     "In the fourth quarter, infrastructural investment will continue to ease

due to the limitations of fiscal spending," Li Qilin, analyst with Lianxun

Securities said in a note. "It will be hard for manufacturing investment to

rebound as the environmental protection campaign bites further."

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86 (10) 8532 5998; email: marissa.wang@marketnews.com

--MNI BEIJING Bureau; +1 202-371-2121; email: john.carter@mni-news.com

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