Fixed asset investment slowed in August, a sign that tougher measures on land use and credit lending are helping cool the economy.

Spending on fixed assets in August was up 21.5 percent from a year earlier, but down 5.9 percentage points from July, said Qiu Xiaohua, chief of the National Bureau of Statistics.

In July investment increased by 27.4 percent, 7 percentage points lower than June, Qiu told a press conference held by the State Council Information Office.

"After months of macroeconomic controls, some positive changes have begun to occur in the performance of the national economy, with an obvious slowdown in the growth rate in fixed asset investment in the last two months," Qiu said.

The changes are a result of the country's efforts to tighten the screws on land use and credit lending, and to raise the level of environment and quality restrictions for investment projects, he said.

As China's economy grew 11.3 percent in the second quarter of the year, officials and academics have warned of possible overheating and underscored the need for better macroeconomic control.

Vice-Premier Zeng Peiyan said on Sunday that the country's macro control priority for the second half of this year was to cap the over-rapid increase in fixed-asset investment. The country will rely more on economic and legal measures and use little or no administrative ones in macro control, he told the "China Business Summit 2006" in Beijing.

The measures include appropriately adjusting money supply and credit, regulating market access of investment and enhancing controls on land use and real estate market, Zeng said.

Qiu said that despite marked cooling off over the past two months, fixed asset investment increased 29.1 percent in the eight months to August.

So the country should intensify macro-control measures to lead fixed-asset investment to get on the right track, he said.

"If we can make sure that we do a good job in the implementation of the existing measures, we will be sure to achieve the macroeconomic control targets we set earlier this year, and there will be no need for new steps for now," he said.

Qiu's bureau and the country's product quality watchdog yesterday also announced the National Quality Competitiveness Index (QCI) of Manufacturing for 2005, a quantitative measure to gauge the quality level and sustainability of different industries and regions.

Based on calculations on data from at least 250,000 enterprises in 29 industrial segments, the country's manufacturing industry scored 78.98 in 2005, which represents a steady growth for the seventh year in a row, according to Li Changjiang, minister of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

The highest QCI goes to makers of communication equipment, computers and other electronic equipment. East China's Jiangsu Province, scoring 84.49, was the top ranking province.

Qiu also stressed that key statistical data released officially in China is reliable, and can withstand test of time.

Technologically, the country's statistical standards and methods are in line with international practice and are certified and accredited by authoritative agencies, he said.

(China Daily September 13, 2006)