BEIJING — China's fixed-asset investment in the transport sector registered a rapid increase in January from a year earlier, an official said on Feb 26.

In January, the sector's total fixed-asset investment soared 42.1 percent year-on-year to 191.2 billion yuan (about $29.5 billion), Sun Wenjian, a spokesperson with the Ministry of Transport, told a press conference.

The figure climbed 13.8 percent from January 2019, Sun said.

Most of the transport investment went to road and waterway construction, which surged 52.3 percent from a year ago to 143.4 billion yuan in January, Sun added.