2017: China's private investment gains momentum

World
Europe

China's private investment rose again in 2017 as the government continued an economic overhaul, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has showed.

Private investment grew by 6 percent year-on-year, 2.8 percentage points higher than in 2016, to 38.2 trillion yuan (6 trillion US dollars).

"The high growth rate indicated the central government's favorable policy in 2017 delivered positive results," said Zhao Peiya, an official with the NBS.

CGTN Photo

The government has been incentivizing startups, notably innovative tech businesses, as it seeks to diversify the country’s economy after decades relying on industry and state-owned enterprises. It has been working on giving small businesses more access to finance and has prioritized a number of sectors for special treatment under the “Made in China 2025” plan.

Private investment in the eastern region stood at 17.6 trillion yuan, with an increase of 8.6 percent over the previous year. In the central region, the investment increased by 7.4 percent to 11.1 trillion yuan. In the west, it reached 7.3 trillion yuan, up 3.9 percent. The northeast saw an increase of 3.2 percent to 2.2 trillion yuan.

VCG Photo

The industrial sector received private investment of 18.5 trillion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 4 percent, among which the manufacturing sector gained 4.8 percent to 16.9 trillion yuan.

Fixed-asset investment grew by 7.2 percent year-on-year to 63.2 trillion yuan, the NBS said.

China's economy ended 2017 with growth of 6.9 percent, higher than the 6.7 percent registered in 2016, the first acceleration in annual growth in seven years.

(With inputs from Xinhua)