China's fixed asset investment rose 27.7% during the first quarter, exceeding the government's target growth of 18% for 2006, the National Bureau of Statistics announced Thursday. The growth rate was 4.9 percentage points higher than the same period last year. NBS spokesman Zheng Jingping said the rapid growth was one of a few prominent problems that called for the government's attention. Credit growth, which is related to fixed asset investment growth, has also been too fast, Zheng said. Figures from the People's Bank of China show new loans grew 70% year-on-year in the first quarter to US$157.5 billion, already about half of the bank's US$312 billion loan growth target for the entire year.