China's investment in fixed asset maintained steady growth in the first quarter of 2026 as investment in manufacturing sector recovered and that in infrastructure accelerated.
The country's fixed-asset investment totaled 10.27 trillion yuan (about 1.5 trillion U.S. dollars), up 1.7 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2026, reversing the 3.8-percent decline recorded for the whole of last year, according to the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on April 16.
Manufacturing investment also recorded a steady recovery, driven by faster upgrading in traditional industries and stronger growth in emerging sectors. In the first quarter, manufacturing investment increased 4.1 percent from a year earlier, 3.5 percentage points faster than the full-year increase in 2025. The investment in equipment manufacturing grew by 5.2 percent, contributing 2.6 percentage points to the growth of total manufacturing investment.
In Xinxiang, central China's Henan Province, a rail transit equipment manufacturer has invested tens of millions of yuan in intelligent upgrades to its production lines and the replacement of imported equipment with domestic one.
"(By doing so,) the consistency and stability of our products have been greatly improved with the overall efficiency increasing by 30 percent," said Zhang Qingjun, chairman of Henan Sulun Rail Transit Equipment Co., Ltd.
Infrastructure investment grew fast, driven by accelerated issuance and utilization of ultra-long special treasury bonds and special local government bonds as well as the implementation of major national strategies and the building of security capacity in key areas. In the first quarter, infrastructure investment rose 8.9 percent year on year, 7.2 percentage points faster than that of the total investment.
The growth of infrastructure investment was largely driven by major projects. In the first quarter, investment in projects with a total planned investment of 100 million yuan or more increased 4.5 percent year on year, contributing 2.6 percentage points to overall growth.
Investment in the people's livelihood sector also grew at an accelerated speed. In the first quarter, investment in the production and supply of electricity, thermal power, gas and water grew 9 percent year on year.
In a residential community in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoniang Province, a gas pipeline replacement project is moving ahead at full speed. Workers are replacing pipes that have been in use for more than 20 years with corrosion resistant ones of higher strength.
"We have completed the replacement of 22.3 kilometers of old gas pipelines in aging residential communities [over the first quarter.] This round of gas pipeline renovation in Shenyang this year is the one with the longest renovation mileage and the heaviest tasks in the past decade," said He Wei, an official with Shenyang Municipal Bureau of Urban and Rural Construction.
China's fixed-asset investment expands steadily in Q1, reversing decline
