BEIJING - The National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planner, said on Tuesday that it approved eight fixed-asset investment (FAI) projects in July.

The projects, with a combined investment value of 236.8 billion yuan ($34.5 billion), mainly cover areas including water conservancy and energy, the commission said.

From January to July, the commission approved 65 FAI projects, with a combined investment value of over 1 trillion yuan.

Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday showed that China's FAI went up 5.7 percent year-on-year in the first seven months of the year.