China: Drop in nominal investment softens in January-March
Nominal urban fixed asset investment fell 16.1% in the three months of the year compared to the same period in 2019. The print followed the 24.5% drop year-to-date in February and was the second contraction since the series began in 1996.
All sub-categories posted sizeable contractions in the January-March period. That said, the declines were less steep than in the previous month, especially in the tertiary sector. 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 6.1% in March, contrasting the 22.1% drop in February.