BEIJING — China's top economic planner approved 9 fixed-asset investment (FAI) projects with combined investment totaling 68.9 billion yuan (about $9.7 billion) in August, official data showed on Sept 18.

The projects were mainly in water conservation and energy industries, according to Meng Wei, spokeswoman with the National Development and Reform Commission.

China's fixed-asset investment growth remained basically stable in the first eight months of the year, expanding 5.5 percent year-on-year thanks to robust high-tech investment, earlier data showed.

Investment in high-tech manufacturing surged 12 percent, while investment in high-tech services grew 14.9 percent, 7.6 percentage points faster than the average growth in the service industry.

Fixed-asset investment includes spending in infrastructure, property, machinery and other physical assets.

In the first eight months, China's infrastructure investment went up 4.2 percent year-on-year, quickening 0.4 percentage points from the growth seen in the January-July period.