China's fixed asset investment grows 1.7% YoY in Q1 2026

China's fixed asset investment (excluding rural households) grew 1.7% year-on-year to 102708 billion yuan in the first quarter of 2026, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics. After deducting price factors, the increase was 2.6%.

Manufacturing investment maintained rapid growth, rising 4.1% in Q1, accelerating 1.0 percentage point from the January-February period and outpacing total investment by 2.4 percentage points. It contributed 1.0 percentage point to overall investment growth. Within the sector, equipment manufacturing investment climbed 5.2%, up 1.2 pps from the first two months, driving 2.6 pps of manufacturing investment growth.

Infrastructure investment rose 8.9% in Q1, 7.2 pps above the overall rate, contributing 2.7 pps to total investment. Air transport investment surged 43.3%, water transport 34.1%, and information transmission 29.6%.

High-tech industry investment jumped 7.4%, accelerating 2.3 pps from January-February and surpassing the national average by 5.7 pps. High-tech manufacturing investment rose 5.2% (up 2.3 pps), led by computers and office equipment (+28.3%), aerospace and equipment (+19.0%), and electronics and telecommunications (+6.6%). High-tech services investment gained 12.3% (also up 2.3 pps), with professional technical services up 29.5%, information services up 20.9%, and R&D design services up 15.8.

Equipment and tool purchases investment grew 13.9% in Q1, accelerating 2.4 pps from January-February and 12.2 pps above total investment. It contributed 2.3 pps to overall growth and accounted for 18.4% of total investment, up 2.0 pps from a year earlier.

Private investment declined 2.2% in Q1, with the decline narrowing 0.4 pps from January-February. Private project investment (excluding real estate) rose 1.3%, accelerating 0.3 pps. By industry, private infrastructure investment grew 5.2% and private manufacturing investment rose 2.2%.

Large project investment remained stable. Projects with planned total investment of 1 billion yuan or more rose 4.5%, contributing 2.6 pps to overall growth. Projects of 10 billion yuan and above grew 5.1%, 20 billion yuan and above rose 7.4%, and 50 billion yuan and above increased 10.8%.

Looking ahead, the NBS stated that government will coordinate various investment funds, focus on improving people’s livelihoods and building momentum, and continue to implement policies to boost private investment.

Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China. Original: https://www.stats.gov.cn/sj/sjjd/202604/t20260417_1963342.html