MNI BRIEF: China's Investment Quickens On Infrastructure Surge

China’s fixed-asset investment grew by 1.8% in the first two months, reversing the 3.8% decline in 2025 to mark the first rise in six months, beating expectations of 1.5%, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday showed. 

Property's investment decline narrowed to -11.1%, from 2025’s -17.2%, marking the slowest drop in nine months. Infrastructure investment and manufacturing investment grew by 11.4% and 3.1%, compared with the previous 2.2% fall and 0.6% gain. (See MNI: China's Fixed-asset Investment To Stabilise In 2026)

Retail sales rose 2.8% y/y in this period, as the bureau usually combines data from January and February to smooth out the impact of Chinese New Year. The figure outperformed a 2.5% forecast and quickened from December’s 0.9% gain.

Industrial production increased 6.3% in Jan-Feb, beating the expected 5.0%, compared to December’s 5.2% reading.