Steel Property China's spending on factories and real estate grew 25.6 percent through May, led by property development and boosted by reconstruction work after snowstorms in January and February. Urban fixed-asset investment rose to 4.03 trillion yuan ($585billion) in the first five months from a year earlier, thestatistics bureau said, after gaining 25.7 percent in the fourmonths through April. Today's figure matched the median estimate of20 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Spending was more than the combined value of the economies ofThailand, Singapore and New Zealand. Economists are split onwhether three extra working days in May, inflation andreconstruction have disguised signs of a slowdown in the world'sfourth-biggest economy. ``Factoring in the extra working days, the Chinese economy hasactually slowed,'' said Qu Hongbin , chief China economist at HSBC Holdings Plc in Hong Kong. ``Growthwill keep slowing gradually because of weaker global demand forexports and monetary-policy tightening; inflation is the majorrisk.'' The yuan rose 0.1 percent to 6.8915 versus the dollar as of 3:14p.m. in Shanghai. The currency has gained 20 percent since a peg tothe U.S. currency was scrapped in 2005. Investment in real-estate development rose 31.9 percent in thefirst five months from a year earlier. Spending on non- ferrousmetals jumped 41.5 percent and that on coal surged 47 percent.
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