BEIJING, June 29 (Xinhua) -- China's fixed-asset investment (FAI) in highways and waterways reported growth in the first five months, recovering from a year-on-year decline of 7.8 percent in the January-April period, official data showed.

Total FAI in highways and waterways amounted to 771 billion yuan (about 109 billion U.S. dollars) in the first five months this year, edging up 2.3 percent year on year, according to the Ministry of Transport.

Specifically, investment in highway construction stood at 718.3 billion yuan, while that of inland rivers reached 21.9 billion yuan during the period, seeing year-on-year growth of 1 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively.

Meanwhile, the FAI in coastal construction was 19.9 billion yuan in the period, ticking up 1.7 percent from the previous year.