BEIJING: China's real estate investment rose 14.7 percent in the first five months of 2014 from a year earlier, while revenues from property sales dropped 8.5 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday.

The rise in investment was more marked in the first four month of the year, when it increased 16.4 percent against the same year ago period.

The drop in revenues compared with a 7.8 percent fall for January to April, compared with the same four months a year earlier.

Real estate investment, which directly affects about 40 other business sectors in China, is considered to be a crucial driver of activity in the world's second-largest economy.