China's fixed asset investment estimated to grow about 10 percent in 2015

Financial institutions widely estimate China's fixed-asset investment growth slowed to around 10 percent in 2015, and some of them predict the growth may recover in 2016 as the stimulating measures show effect gradually. Affected by contracting external demand, weak domestic demand and cyclical adjustment of the real estate market, China's investment growth slowdown has expanded month by month in 2015.

Private investment, which accounts for more than 60 percent of the total investment, has seen bigger slowdown. In the first eleven months, private investment growth dropped 7.7 percentage points from a year ago, showing that companies were reluctant to make investment. Ma Cihui, manager at Huarong Securities' research department, predicts investment growth in December would stay at the same level as a year earlier, leading the growth for 2015 to 10.2 percent.

Production overcapacity and higher financing costs have restrained investment in manufacturing industry and piled inventory has limited real estate investment recovery, says Jiang Chao, vice director of the research institute at Haitong Securities. He also predicts investment growth for 2015 would stand around 10 percent.

However, analysts hold divided opinions on outlook for the country's investment in 2016. Zhou Jingtong from the international finance research institute predicts China's investment growth is likely to continue to decline to about 8.5 percent in 2016.

Meanwhile, some ore institutions are more positive and they believe the situation will improve in 2016. Zhang Yahan, president of the Investment Association of China, expects China's investment to rise more than 11 percent in 2016. He believes the measures China launched since the second half of 2014 to boost investment will gradually take effect in 2016, including accelerating financing and investment form, simplifying approval procedures, lowering ratios of investment to capital for some industries and encouraging financing through public-private-partnership (PPP). Zhang also says that manufacturing companies will continue to face lack of good investing opportunity and funds for investment in 2016.