China infrastructure investment to pick up in second half: statistics bureau

BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s infrastructure investment is expected to pick up in the second half of the year due to policy support, the country’s statistics bureau said on Tuesday, after official data showed infrastructure spending slowed in the first seven months.

China’s economic growth is still within a reasonable range, the bureau’s spokeswoman Liu Aihua told reporters.

Growth in infrastructure spending, a powerful economic driver last year, slowed to 5.7 percent in January-to-July, from an increase of 7.3 percent in the first six months.