BEIJING, April 16 (Xinhua) -- China's fixed-asset investment went up 1.7 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2026, reversing the 3.8-percent decline recorded for the whole of last year, official data showed Thursday.

The investment totaled 10.27 trillion yuan (about 1.5 trillion U.S. dollars) during this period, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement.

Mao Shengyong, deputy head of the NBS, said that as 2026 marks the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan period, China has stepped up efforts to launch major projects and boost investment in new types of infrastructure, driving faster growth in infrastructure investment.

Infrastructure investment rose 8.9 percent year on year in the first quarter, accelerating by 8.3 percentage points from the full-year pace in 2025, NBS data showed.

Manufacturing investment also recorded a steady recovery, driven by faster upgrading in traditional industries and stronger growth in emerging sectors, Mao said. In the first quarter, manufacturing investment increased 4.1 percent from a year earlier, 3.5 percentage points faster than the full-year increase in 2025.

Emerging industries such as the low-altitude economy, together with future industries like embodied intelligence and 6G, are developing at a faster pace and gradually becoming new drivers of investment growth, Mao said.

Producer services also continued to specialize and move up the value chain, effectively unleashing new momentum for investment, Mao said. Investment in high-tech services climbed 12.3 percent in the first quarter.

Investment in intellectual property products rose 7.9 percent year on year in the first quarter, a result of China's strong push in recent years to pursue innovation-driven development and foster new quality productive forces, Mao said.

Looking ahead, Mao said fixed-asset investment still has considerable room and potential for growth.

He said that beyond the size and pace of investment, greater attention should be paid to its structure, returns, quality and sustainability, with more effective investment directed toward improving people's well-being, fostering new quality productive forces, and promoting high-quality economic and social development. ■