Chinese fixed asset investment rose 2.9 percent year-to-date in November, matching the growth recorded in October and just below the consensus forecast for an increase of 3.0 percent. In month-over-month terms, investment rose 0.26 percent after advancing 0.10 percent previously.

Manufacturing investment increased 6.3 percent year-to-date in November, little changed from 6.2 percent in October, while the contraction in property investment was also steady, with a decline of 9.4 percent year-to-date after a previous decline of 9.3 percent. Excluding the property sector, investment rose 9.1 percent year-to-date in November, as it did in October.

Officials characterised today's data as evidence that"the national economy further consolidated its good momentum" and that conditions are"turning for the better". However, although industrial production and retail sales both recorded stronger year-over-year growth in November, weakness in the property market remains a major drag on the economy. PMI surveys published earlier in the month also showed ongoing subdued conditions in the Chinese economy. The comments from officials, however, suggest that they remain comfortable with current policy settings for now, in line with previous statements.

The monthly activity data published today showed industrial production was stronger than the consensus forecast, while retail sales were weaker and investment was in line with expectations. The China RPI and RPI-P are unchanged at plus 7 and plus 20 respectively, indicating that recent Chinese data in sum are coming in close to consensus forecasts.

Fixed asset investment in November is expected to rise 3.0 percent. This would compare with 2.9 percent growth in October and 3.1 percent growth in September.

Investment in fixed assets refers to the investment in construction and purchase of fixed assets by private and state-controlled domestic enterprises and households (excluding rural households) involving a total planned investment of CNY5 million yuan or more. Separate data for private investment and state-controlled investment are published as well as more detailed data on an industry basis.

Investment in fixed assets is an important part of gross domestic product and also provides the additional productive capacity to an economy that is required to drive future growth. Strong growth in this category of spending indicates that enterprises are confident about future prospects and is generally associated with rising employment and incomes.

Investment in fixed assets therefore provides information about near-term and future economic growth. Investors need to closely track the economic growth because it usually dictates how investments will perform. Investors in the stock market like to see healthy economic growth because robust business activity translates to higher corporate profits. Bond investors are more highly sensitive to inflation and robust economic activity could potentially pave the road to inflation. By tracking economic data such as GDP, investors will know what the economic backdrop is for these markets and their portfolios.