BEIJING - China's fixed asset investment growth edged down to 17.2 percent year on year in the first five months from 17.3 percent in the Jan-April period, official data showed on Friday.

China's fixed-asset investment up 17.3%

Total investment hit 15.37 trillion yuan ($2.50 trillion) during this period, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement.

Private investment rose to 65.1 percent of the total investment, up 0.2 percentage points from the first four months.

Since last August, investment growth has been in constant decline amid a slowdown in the country's economic growth.

The country's economy grew 7.4 percent in the first quarter of this year, below the yearly target of 7.5 percent.

The slowdown in fixed asset investment was partly attributed to slowing property investment. In nominal terms, property investment rose 14.7 percent year on year, 1.7 percentage points lower compared to the Jan.-April period.

But infrastructure investment growth picked up during this period to 25 percent from 22.8 percent in the first four months.