(Yicai) June 16 -- The decline in China's fixed-asset investment extended in the January to May period from that in the first four months of the year, despite investment in technology and infrastructure continuing to grow, indicating a structural optimization.

Fixed-assets investment, excluding rural households, dropped 4.1 percent to CNY17.9 trillion (USD2.6 trillion) in the five months ended May 31 from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics announced today. In comparison, it fell 1.6 percent in the January to April period.

China's infrastructure investment climbed 0.6 percent in the first five months from a year earlier, down from 4.3 percent in the first four months. That in real estate development tumbled 16.2 percent and in manufacturing fell 0.4 percent, compared with a 13.7 percent drop and a 1.2 percent growth, respectively, in the first four months.

The bigger decline in fixed-assets investment is partly because of the high temperatures and heavy rains in some regions since the start of last month, said Fu Linghui, spokesperson for the NBS. It also reflects that China's investment structure is shifting from aggregate expansion to quality improvement, Fu added.

Although investment in the manufacturing sector turned from growth to decline, that in high-tech industries jumped 4.5 percent from a year ago, Fu noted. Investment in the integrated circuit and lithium battery manufacturing sectors surged 11 percent and 25 percent, respectively, thanks to the rapid development of artificial intelligence and the new energy industry, Fu pointed out.

Market supply of and demand for high-tech manufacturing are robust, with the support from fiscal and financial policies creating a favorable environment for industrial development, so investment will likely continue to maintain high growth, said Wang Qing, chief macro analyst at Golden Credit Rating International. Chips, new energy vehicles, industrial robots, and 3D printing equipment output are expected to maintain double-digit growth this quarter, Wang added.

Regarding infrastructure, investment in transportation and new-generation communication facilities surged in the first five months, with that in the water transportation and air transportation industries rising 23 percent and 22 percent, respectively, while that in the information transmission industry soared 30 percent, Fu noted.

China has allocated CNY755 billion (USD111.7 billion) of central government investment budget and CNY1 trillion (USD147.9 billion) in ultra-long special treasury bonds for the construction of major engineering projects this year. In addition, it has launched CNY800 billion new policy-based financial tools to support infrastructure investment.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Martin Kadiev