BEIJING, July 16 (Xinhua) -- China's fixed-asset investment (FAI) grew 6 percent year on year in the first half of this year, official data showed Monday.

Total FAI stood at about 29.73 trillion yuan (4.44 trillion U.S. dollars), according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The growth is 1.5 percentage points lower than that of the first three months of this year.

Private investment picked up in the January-June period, growing 8.4 percent year on year, which is 1.2 percentage points more than that of the same period last year, NBS data showed.

In breakdown, FAI in agriculture was up 13.5 percent year on year, followed by 6.8 percent for the service sector, and 3.8 percent for industry.

With a three-month straight rebound, the manufacturing sector saw a 6.8-percent growth in FAI in the first half of 2018, up 3 percentage points from that registered in the first quarter.

FAI in high-tech manufacturing displayed strong momentum by growing 13.1 percent year on year, outpacing the country's general FAI growth by 7.1 percentage points.

According to NBS data, China's gross domestic product expanded 6.8 percent year on year in the first half of 2018, exceeding the government's annual target of "around 6.5 percent" and extending a steady expansion.