BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- China's fixed-asset investment (FAI) went up 19.9 percent year on year in the first four months of 2021 with continued improvements in investment structure, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Monday.

FAI amounted to 14.38 trillion yuan (about 2.24 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first four months, according to the NBS.

The double-digit growth was driven by a low comparative base early last year, when COVID-19 paralyzed economic activities in China. Compared with the 2019 level, FAI growth came in at 8 percent during the January-April period.

Investment by the state sector went up 18.6 percent during the period, while private-sector investment rose 21 percent.

On a month-on-month basis, FAI rose 1.49 percent in April.

Investment in the primary industry increased 35.5 percent year on year in the first four months, with that in the secondary industry rising 21.7 percent and that in the tertiary industry climbing 18.7 percent.

Investment in high-tech manufacturing and services jumped 34.2 percent and 18.1 percent year on year, respectively.

FAI includes capital spent on infrastructure, property, machinery and other physical assets.