BEIJING, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's fixed asset investment rose 24.9 percent year-on-year to 21.23 trillion yuan (3.33 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first nine months of the year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Tuesday.

The growth rate was 0.7 percentage points lower than that during the first six months, said NBS spokesman Sheng Laiyun in a press release.

Investment in the primary, secondary and tertiary industries rose 25.5 percent, 26.9 percent and 23.4 percent from last year, respectively, during the passing nine months.

Investment in the state-owned and state-controlled companies rose 12.7 percent to 7.35 trillion yuan during the period.

Meanwhile, investments in the nation's eastern regions grew 22.3 percent year-on-year, while the central and western regions' investments rose 29.9 percent and 29.5 percent, respectively.

Furthermore, investment in the nation's property sector rose 32 percent year-on-year to reach 4.42 trillion yuan. The rise was 0.9 percentage points lower than that in the first half. About 3.18 trillion yuan went into residential housing, an increase of 35.2 percent from the same period last year.

Floor space transactions of commercial housing climbed 12.9 percent year-on-year to 712.89 million square meters during the past nine months.