Urban fixed asset investment in China for the first four months this year rose 26.1 percent to 4.67 trillion yuan (684.4 billion U.S. dollars) year on year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced Tuesday.

The growth followed a 26.4-percent increase in the first quarter this year, and an increase of 30.5 percent in the first four months in 2009, according to the NBS.

The slowdown in investment growth was a result of a higher comparison base during the same period last year, said Zhu Jianfang, senior economist with Citic Securities.

Growth in central government projects investment also slowed compared with the same period last year when the country's economic stimulus package boosted investment, Zhu said.

In the first four months this year, central government projects investment climbed 10.6 percent year on year to 383.3 billion yuan, but the growth rate was 18.7 percentage points lower than the January-April period of 2009.

The investment by local authorities rose 27.6 percent year on year to 4.29 trillion yuan in the first four months.

Investment in the property market climbed 36.2 percent to 993.2 billion yuan in the first four months. The growth rate accelerated from 35.1 percent in the first quarter this year.

Total investment in the primary sector (farming, fishing and forestry, among others) expanded 16.5 percent from a year earlier.

The industrial sector saw investment up 21.7 percent and the tertiary sector, or the service sector, which covers commerce, finance and services, registered a 29.7 percent growth.

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