BEIJING, May 21 -- China's top economic planner has approved 50 fixed-asset investment projects worth 320.7 billion yuan (about 45.1 billion U.S. dollars) in the first four months of this year.

These projects are primarily in the high-tech industries and water conservation, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) spokesperson Li Chao told a press conference on Tuesday.

In April alone, the NDRC approved 20 fixed-asset investment projects worth 115.2 billion yuan, Li said.

From January to April, the country's fixed-asset investment expanded 4.2 percent year on year to 14.34 trillion yuan, buoyed by government policies designed to expand effective investment.

Boosted by government policies, investment in large-scale equipment renewals registered relatively fast expansion. During the period, investment in equipment and instruments rose by 17.2 percent compared with a year earlier, 13 percentage points higher than the overall investment growth pace.

Looking ahead, efforts will be made to fully leverage the role of market entities and guide the private firms to invest and actively participate in the equipment renewals and trade-ins of consumer goods, Li said.