"In the remaining several months of this year, some 36billion yuan ($4.3 billion) investment in construction of railways and 120 billion yuan in roads will have to be completed," the China Securities said, quoting the State Development Planning Commission.

The newspaper did not specify when the commission made the statement.

Beijing is determined to achieve its targeted 8.0 per cent economic growth this year by accelerating fixed asset investment to offset lower exports due to the Asian financial crisis and flat domestic consumption.

China's economy expanded a year-on-year 7.0 per cent in the first half of this year -- the lowest growth rate recorded since 1991.

Beijing had raised its target of railway investment for 1998 to 53 billion yuan from the 38 billion initially planned earlier this year, the newspaper said.

Total investment inconstruction of roads this year had been boosted by 50 per cent to 180 billion yuan, it said.

China had already spent 86.3 billion yuan on road construction in the first eight months of this year, accounting for 48 per cent of the annual target, the China News Service said, quoting the ministry of communications.

Investment in railways reached 21.76 billion yuan in the first eight months, a rise of 9.08 billion yuan compared with the year-ago period, state media have reported.

China's targeted investment in telecommunications this year had been increased to 183.7 billion from 143.7 billion yuan, the China Securities said.

Total infrastructure investment in the civil aviation sector this year would reach 9.55 billion yuan in 1998, up from the 6.55 billion yuan set earlier this year, it said.

The government would spend 25 billion yuan raised from the 100 billion yuan bond issue to capitalise infrastructure projects in the communications sector, enabling banks to make more loans, it said.

ChineseState Councillor Wu Yi said earlier this month China would earmark $1.2 trillion for infrastructure and other spending over three years.

However, an expert on government investment said the figure given by Wu covered not infrastructure spending, but the far broader category of investment in fixed assets.

Wu's figure covered not only investment from the government, but also from state firms and the non-state sector, including individuals and foreign investors, Zhang Hanya, director of the State Development Planning Commission's Investment Research Institute, told the China Daily.

Fixed assets investment covered not only infrastructure, but also investment for plant construction, industrial upgrading, and construction of state and private property as well as investment in natural resources exploration, he said.

Wu's statement indicated a 15-per cent annual growth rate in fixed assets investment in the 1998-2000 period, a substantial hike in the original 10 per cent increase proposed in the 1998 budgetpassed by parliament in March.

Fixed asset investment grew by 10.1 per cent in 1997, when the economy grew by 8.8 per cent.

Chinese economists have estimated that China's infrastructure spending by internationally accepted definitions over the next three years is likely to be around $370 billion.