China's investment in property development rose 3.4 percent year on year in the first seven months of 2020, widening from the 1.9-percent increase in the first half, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Friday.

Total property investment in the period stood at 7.53 trillion yuan (about 1.08 trillion U.S. dollars), the NBS said.

Investment in residential buildings came in at 5.57 trillion yuan, up 4.1 percent from the same period last year.

Commercial housing sales in terms of floor area totaled 836.31 million square meters in the first seven months, down 5.8 percent year on year.

In terms of value, commercial housing sales fell 2.1 percent year on year to 8.14 trillion yuan in the first seven months.

The property development climate index compiled by the NBS went up slightly by 0.24 points from June to 100.09 points in July. Enditem