China’s fixed-asset investment declined by 5.7% year-on-year in the first half of 2026, worse than market forecasts of a 4.9% drop and the 4.1% fall recorded in the January-May period. Property investment remained the biggest drag, plunging 18% after a 16.2% decline in January-May, as persistently weak housing demand, tighter financing conditions, and debt burdens among developers continued to weigh on the sector. Investment in infrastructure (-2.4% vs 0.6% in January-May) and manufacturing (-1.2% vs -0.4%) also dropped. Among industries, investment in the primary sector rose at a much slower pace (0.9% vs 5.9%), while investment in the secondary sector (-1.1% vs 0.1%) and tertiary sector (-8.4% vs -6.8%) declined. Excluding the property sector, fixed-asset investment was down by 2.7% in January-June, slipping further from a 1.2% fall in the first five months of the year. On a monthly basis, fixed-asset investment decreased by 0.37% in June, easing from a 1.25% drop in May.