China's Investment in Industry Declining

BEIJING, August 9 (Xinhua) -- China's investment in many industrial sectors underwent a decline in the first five months this year, but input in the communications sector kept a strong upward trend, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Latest figures from the bureau showed that total investment in industry between January and May dropped 3.1 percent year-on-year to 156.4 billion yuan (about 18.9 billion U.S. dollars).

In the meantime, 81.8 billion yuan went to the energy sector, down 7.7 percent from the same 1998 period, and a sum of 19.9 billion yuan was directed to machinery and electronics sector, an increase of 9.2 percent.

Transportation, postal and telecommunications services continued to enjoy a considerable inflow of funds. Investment in the sector during the period hit 105.4 billion yuan, surging 34.8 percent on an annual basis.

Light industry and textile industry witnessed a decline of investment in the five months. Funds channeled to the sectors amounted to 19.1 billion yuan, down 5.2 percent.