Chinese fixed asset investment rose 2.8 percent on the year-to-date in June, slowing from an increase of 3.7 percent in May and below the consensus forecast of 3.6 percent. In month-over-month terms, fixed asset investment fell 0.12 percent in June after an increase of 0.05 percent in May. Ongoing weakness in property sector investment was outweighed by solid gains in manufacturing and infrastructure investment.

In their statement accompanying quarterly and monthly data published today, officials characterised the data as showing the economy"withstood pressure and made steady improvement despite challenges". Although officials refrained from explicitly referring to trade tensions with the United States, they noted a need to"coordinate domestic economic work and endeavours in the international economic and trade field" and to"cope with external uncertainties". Officials reiterated their commitment to"more proactive and effective macro policies" but provided no specific guidance about whether additional changes to policy settings will be considered in the near-term.

Data published today were mixed relative to consensus forecasts. The China's RPI and RPI-P rose from minus 7 and minus 10 respectively to zero, indicating that recent Chinese data in sum are coming in at consensus forecasts.

Forecasters see FAI growth year on year down a tick at 3.6 percent in June versus 3.7 percent in May.

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.