BEIJING (Reuters) - China's real estate investment rose 14.1 per cent in the first half of 2014 from a year earlier, while revenues from property sales dropped 6.7 per cent, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday.

The rise in investment compared with an increase of 14.7 per cent in the first five months of 2014. The drop in revenues compared with a fall of 8.5 per cent for January to May.

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.