BEIJING - Sales by China's major excavator producers maintained double-digit growth in August, according to the China Construction Machinery Association.

The country's 25 leading excavator makers sold 11,588 units in August, up 33 percent year-on-year, though the growth was milder than a 45.3-percent increase in July.

In breakdown, 10,087 excavators were sold in the domestic market, up 26.8 percent year-on-year. Exports of the equipment soared 95.8 percent to 1,482 units.

A total of 142,834 excavators were sold in the Jan-Aug period, up 56.2 percent over the same period last year. More than 130,000 of those were sold in the domestic market.

Sales of excavators are usually backed by growth in mining, construction, and infrastructure investment.

In the first seven months of this year, China's fixed-asset investment expanded 5.5 percent year-on-year, down from 6 percent for Jan-June period, with growth accelerating in private investment, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.