China's urban fixed-asset investment rose 32.1 percent year on year in the first 11 months to 16.86 trillion yuan (2.47 trillion U.S. dollars), the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced Friday.

The growth rate was 5.3 percentage points higher than that in the same period last year, but 1 percentage point lower than that in the first 10 months, NBS spokesman Sheng Laiyun said at a press conference.

Central government projects investment totaled 1.53 trillion yuan in the January-November period, up 16.4 percent year on year.

"Investment by the central government is expected to grow further over next year, but at a slower speed", said Wang Tao, analyst with the UBS Securities.

Investment by local levels totaled 15.34 trillion yuan, up 33.9 percent from a year earlier, showing that private investment had begun to pick up, said Zhang Hanya, a senior researcher with the Investment Institution of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

Total spending in new projects was 13.69 trillion yuan, up 76.6 percent year on year, but 4.5 percentage points lower than that in the first 10 months.

"The slower growth indicates that the government has been more cautious when approving new projects," said Zhang.

Zhang also predicted an upsurge in investment in new projects during the first two quarters next year.

"An investment cycle usually comprises three years, and the second year used to account for 40 to 60 percent of total spending. There would be a climax of investment in the first six months as this year has seen a large amount of projects begin," said Zhang.

The annual investment is likely to top 22 trillion yuan as businesses were bullish on the country's economic outlook and increased their investment, said Zhang.

In the first 11 months, investment in the primary industry, including farming, fishing and forestry, gained 51.5 percent year on year.

The industrial sector, or the secondary industry, reported a 26.1-percent growth in investment, and the tertiary industry, covering commerce, finance and services, posted a 36.6 percent in investment.

Peng Wensheng, analyst with the Barclays Capital, told Xinhua in an e-mail that gross capital investment was expected to contribute 7 percentage points to the forecasted 8.6-percent GDP increase this year, consumption would take 4 percentage points while net exports would subtract 2.4 percentage points.