China’s fixed-asset investment fell by 4.1% year-on-year in the January–May 2026 period, a sharper decline than market expectations of a 2.0% drop and weaker than the 1.6% contraction recorded in the first four months of the year. Property investment remained the primary drag, contracting by 16.2% compared with a 13.7% decline in January–April. At the same time, growth in infrastructure and manufacturing investment lost momentum, with infrastructure investment easing to 0.6% from 4.3% and manufacturing investment slowing to 0.4% from 1.2%.
By sector, investment growth moderated in the primary industry (5.9% vs 10.1%) and the secondary sector (0.1% vs 2.5%), while investment in the tertiary sector weakened further (-6.8% vs -4.2%). Excluding the property sector, fixed-asset investment fell by 1.2% in the first five months of 2026, reversing a 1.3% increase in the January–April period. On a month-on-month basis, fixed-asset investment declined by 1.91% in May, following a 2.36% drop in April.
