BEIJING, May 17 -- China's top economic planner approved 56 fixed-asset investment (FAI) projects in the first four months of the year, with combined investment totaling 378.4 billion yuan (about 54.25 billion U.S. dollars), official data showed Wednesday.

The projects were mainly in the high-tech, energy and water conservancy industries, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

In April alone, 14 FAI projects worth 98 billion yuan were approved, the data revealed.

Fixed-asset investment, one of the drivers of China's economy, went up 4.7 percent in the January to April period, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.