China's Retail Sales up 15% in First Half

BEIJING, July 16 -- China's fixed-asset investment in the first half year rose 33.5 percent from a year earlier to 9.132 trillion yuan (1.34 trillion U.S. dollars), the National Bureau of Statistics announced Thursday.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The figure is 7.2 percentage points higher than the same period of last year.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Urban fixed-asset investment climbed 33.6 percent in the first half year to 7.81 trillion yuan, compared with a 32.9 percent growth in the first five months of this year. June alone recorded a 35.3 percent advance in urban fixed-asset investment.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Among urban fixed-asset investment, the growth rate in the primary sector, covering farming, fishing and forestry, among others, jumped 68.9 percent from a year ago.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The industrial sector, or the secondary sector, saw investment rise 29.0 percent and the tertiary sector, the third industry which covers commerce, finance, and service, posted a 36.6 percent growth.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; (Source: Xinhua)
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