SHANGHAI, China (AP) -- China's spending on real estate and other fixed urban assets rose 25.6 percent in the first five months of the year compared with the same period a year ago, the National Statistics Bureau reported Tuesday.
The bureau said investment in construction, factory equipment and other such assets totaled 4.03 trillion yuan (US$585 billion).
The growth rate was below the 25.9 percent increase in such investments in January-May 2007 and compared with a 25.7 percent increase in the first four months of this year, the statistics bureau said.
Regulators have repeatedly raised interest rates and tightened lending policies, seeking to curb a boom in such investments, which they fear could precipitate a financial crisis and hamper efforts to cool inflation.
