Transport investment up 7.1% to $541.6b

China's fixed-asset investment in the transport sector maintained steady growth last year, official data showed. Total fixed-asset investment increased 7.1 percent on a yearly basis to nearly 3.48 trillion yuan ($541.6 billion) last year, according to the Ministry of Transport. The growth rate was the highest in the last three years, said the ministry. By the end of last year, the operating mileage of China's railway network reached 146,000 kilometers. The country had a total of 5.2 million km of highways, of which expressways represented 161,000 km.

PBOC keeps loan prime rates unchanged

The People's Bank of China, the central bank, on Thursday maintained the one-year loan prime rate, a market-based benchmark lending rate, at 3.85 percent. The over-five-year LPR, on which many lenders base their mortgage rates, also remained unchanged from the previous reading of 4.65 percent, according to the National Interbank Funding Center. The lending rates have remained unchanged for 13 consecutive months since April last year.

Xinhua