China: Drop in nominal fixed investment continues to moderate in January-May
Nominal urban fixed asset investment fell 6.3% in the first five months of the year compared to the same period in 2019. The print followed the 10.3% year-to-date drop in April and was broadly in line with the 6.0% contraction that market analysts had expected.
Although the all-important secondary and tertiary sectors continued to post contractions in the January-May period, the declines were less steep than in the previous month. Moreover, the primary sector did not contract for the first time this year. In terms of ownership, investment in fixed assets of state-owned enterprises posted a much softer decline in the period compared to the still-large drop in investment among private companies.
On a month-on-month basis, investment in urban fixed assets rose a seasonally-adjusted 5.9% in May, following the 6.2% rise in April.