MNI BRIEF: Measures Taken For Consumption And Investment: NBS

China will further improve the investment environment, leverage the guiding role of government investment and stimulate private investment, while focusing on stabilising employment and promoting income growth to enhance consumption capacity and boost consumer confidence, Fu Linghui, spokesperson for the National Bureau of Statistics, said on Monday.

Fu said the recent slowdown in retail sales was largely due to a high base of comparison from the same period last year, while the weakness in investment was mainly driven by a decline in real-estate investment.

In the first 11 months of the year, fixed-asset investment fell 2.6% year on year, while investment excluding real-estate development rose 0.8%, he said. To address the decline in investment, authorities have recently introduced a series of measures focused on improving investment efficiency and stimulating the vitality of private investment, which is expected to deliver positive results. (See MNI: China's GDP Faces H2 Growth Challenges)