BEIJING — China's investment in property development maintained steady expansion in the first five months of this year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on June 16.

In Jan-May period, property investment rose 18.3 percent year-on-year to 5.43 trillion yuan (about $847.4 billion), NBS data showed.

The growth rate slowed from 21.6 percent increase in the first four months and 25.6 percent increase in the first three months.

Compared with the same period in 2019, property investment climbed 17.9 percent, putting average Jan-May growth for 2020 and 2021 at 8.6 percent, NBS data showed.

Investment in residential buildings went up 20.7 percent year-on-year in the first five months.