Over 10 million iftar meals served at Two Holy Mosques during first half of Ramadan    421,144 worshipers use electric golf carts at Grand Mosque during Ramadan    Yemeni man and woman arrested for misusing children for begging in Makkah    NCM forecast: Thunderstorms to hit most Saudi regions until Sunday    Princess Reema bint Bandar greets Saudi Special Olympics team in Jeddah    stc group is the third-strongest telecom brand worldwide    King Salman Royal Reserve records birth of Nubian ibex    British tourist missing after Thailand boat fire    Taiwan revokes visa of pro-Beijing Chinese influencer    AFC Champions League Elite Finals draw sets stage for Jeddah showdown    Cannes award-winning actress Dequenne dies at 43    Saudi Arabia grants Tier 1 cybersecurity licenses to six MSOC providers    Saudi Arabia's inflation rate keeps steady at 2% in February    Newcastle United ends 70-year wait for domestic glory with Carabao Cup triumph    Peace deal must bar Ukraine from Nato, Russian official says    Saudi Arabia launches loan guarantees for SMEs to stimulate investment in environmental projects    Antenna: Saudi artist Ahmed Mater opens first solo exhibition in China    Al Nassr climbs to third with dominant win over Al Khaleej, Al Qadsiah slips after loss to Damac    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    Man lives for 100 days with titanium heart in successful new trial    Singer Wheesung who wooed Korea with his ballads, found dead at 43    King Salman prays for peace and stability for Palestinians in Ramadan message King reaffirms Saudi Arabia's commitment to serving the Two Holy Mosques and pilgrims    Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan 'out of danger' after attack at home in Mumbai    Order vs. Morality: Lessons from New York's 1977 Blackout    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



China's Fixed Asset Investment ‘Brisk'
Agence France Presse
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 15 - 03 - 2008

China said Friday its spending on new factories and equipment remained brisk, following a slew of data suggesting the economy may be far from the slowdown policy-makers are trying to engineer.
Fixed asset investment in cities rose 24.3 percent in the first two months of 2008 compared with a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement.
Overall urban fixed investment - a key measure of spending on infrastructure projects - for the period was 812.1 billion yuan ($114 billion), according to the bureau.
The figure indicated a slight acceleration compared with a year ago. In the first two months of 2007, fixed-asset investments were up 23.4 percent.“The figures prove that corporates maintain a strong desire to invest,” said Li Wei, an analyst with Standard Chartered.
China's economy, the world's fourth-largest, grew by 11.4 percent in 2007, the fifth consecutive year of double-digit economic growth.
Fixed-asset investment is seen as a major source of growth in China along with net exports, and has been targeted by official eager to find ways to keep the economy from overheating.
Premier Wen Jiabao said during the ongoing session of China's parliament that preventing an overheated economy and reining in inflation were the two top priorities for 2008.
But investment in real estate – a key area of concern because of the speculative nature of the market - still saw brisk growth in the first two months of 2008, rising 32.9 percent from the same period in 2007.
This is in spite of a series of measures adopted by the government to cool down the property market, including policies announced last year to make it more expensive to buy a second home.
The investment figures come after other data released this week showing that China has a long way to go before it has cooled down the economy.
The figure that attracted most attention was 8.7 percent inflation recorded in February, which was the highest level in nearly 12 years, triggering expectations of some sort of imminent government action.
China's trade surplus also shrank by nearly two thirds in February from a year earlier to $8.56 billion, partly because a vibrant domestic economy spurred a steep rise in imports.
“We expect the government to take further tightening measures in the coming months, which is likely to put downward pressure on domestic investment,” investment bank Goldman Sachs said in a research note.
Chinese stocks fell 1.07 percent Friday morning, dragged down by banks and real estate shares as investors worried that soaring inflation would trigger a new round of tightening measures battering corporate profits. __


Clic here to read the story from its source.