BEIJING — The National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planner, said on Aug 16 that it approved eight fixed-asset investment (FAI) projects in July.

The projects, with a combined investment value of 236.8 billion yuan (about $34.5 billion), mainly cover areas including water conservancy and energy, the commission said on Aug 15.

From January to July, the commission approved 65 FAI projects, with a combined investment value of over 1 trillion yuan.

Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Aug 15 showed that China's FAI went up 5.7 percent year-on-year in the first seven months of the year.