BEIJING (Reuters) - China almost quadrupled the value of fixed-asset investment projects approved in July from the previous month as Beijing looked to expedite infrastructure spending to bolster growth in the world's second-biggest economy.
China approved 17 fixed-asset investment projects in July, worth a combined 77.69 billion yuan ($11.24 billion), Zhao Chenxi, an official at the National Development and Reform Commision (NDRC), told reporters on Thursday.
That compared with 20.8 billion yuan of fixed-asset investment projects approved in June, Reuters calculated from official data.
The government is accelerating plans to invest billions of dollars in infrastructure projects as its economy shows signs of cooling, with investment growth slowing to a record low and consumers becoming more cautious.
The NDRC also pledged on Wednesday to keep debt levels under control, one day after China reported surprisingly weak economic data, as Beijing tries to strike a balance between shoring up slowing growth and keeping up with the debt clampdown.
China has signed 1.73 trillion yuan worth of debt-to-equity swap agreements as of the end of July, but only 352 billion yuan has been transacted, said Chen Hongwan, another official with the NDRC.
Under debt-to-equity swap schemes, investors get equity stakes in firms and the firms are able to lower their debt burden, though the specifics of each deal are different and often complex.
This highlighted the difficulty authorities face in accelerating market-based debt-to-equity swaps in its multi-year deleveraging campaign even with July's fresh liquidity released by the central bank to quicken the program.
($1 = 6.9117 Chinese yuan)