China's fixed asset investment rose 20.6 percent year on year to 36.48 trillion yuan (5.81 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2012, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed on Friday.

The growth rate was down 3.4 percentage points from a year earlier and 0.1 percentage point from the pace in the first 11 months, the NBS said at a press conference.

The investment made in December increased 1.53 percent from November, the bureau added.

Last year, investment in the agricultural sector surged 32.2 percent to 900.4 billion yuan. Investment in industry grew 20.2 percent to 15.87 trillion yuan, while the service sector saw a 20.6 percent rise to 19.72 trillion yuan.

Investment in the nation's central regions witnessed the fastest growth of 25.8 percent, followed by 24.2 percent in the west and 17.8 percent in the east.

The bureau said investment by state-owned enterprises and their holding companies grew by 14.7 percent year on year, while investment by private investors surged 24.8 percent.

Investment in property development climbed 16.2 percent to 7.18 trillion yuan, down 11.9 percentage points from the growth rate of the previous year, according to the bureau.

The NBS also said China's economic expansion slowed to 7.8 percent year on year in 2012, the slowest expansion since 1999.