China's fixed assets investment reached 14.1 trillion yuan (2.1 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first eight months this year, a year-on-year increase of 24.8 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Saturday.

The growth rate was 0.1 percentage points lower than that for the first seven months.

State-owned and state-controlled investment rose by 20.0 percent to 5.85 trillion yuan.

Property market investment grew 36.7 percent to 2.84 trillion yuan in the first eight months.

Investment in central government projects gained 11.4 percent to hit 1.12 trillion yuan, and investment in local government projects gained 26.1 percent to 12.98 trillion yuan in the first eight months year on year.

Foreign investment climbed 2.5 percent to 488.7 billion yuan in the first eight months from a year earlier. Investment from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan was up 15.8 percent to 445.4 billion yuan. Domestic enterprise investment rose 26.3 percent to 13.11 trillion yuan.

Total investment in the primary sector (including farming, fishing and forestry) rose 18.6 percent from a year earlier.

The industrial sector saw investment up 22.2 percent, and investment in the tertiary sector, which covers commerce, finance and services, rose 27.0 percent.

Investment in railways was up by 21.7 percent to 378 billion yuan; in oil and natural gas by 10.3 percent to 147.8 billion yuan; in electricity and thermal power production and supply by 7.9 percent to 676.7 billion yuan.