BEIJING — China's investment in property development fell 16.3 percent year-on-year in the first two months of 2020, the National Bureau of Statistics said on March 16.

The total property investment during the period stood at 1.01 trillion yuan (about $144.25 billion), according to the NBS.

The investment in residential buildings went down 16 percent year-on-year to 731.8 billion yuan in the first two months, said the NBS.

The data on March 16 also showed commercial housing sales in terms of floor area totaled 84.75 million square meters during the period, down 39.9 percent year-on-year, while the sales in terms of value fell 35.9 percent to 820.3 billion yuan.