Local Governments Across China Promote Major Projects to Meet Annual Goals and Plan for Next Year
As the end of the year approaches, local governments in China are ramping up efforts to promote the construction of major projects and sprint towards full-year goals. Many places have already planned a number of large-scale, high-impact projects for next year, focusing on areas such as transportation infrastructure, energy, agriculture, forestry, water conservancy, major national strategies, affordable housing projects, and new infrastructure.
In Eastern Economic Development Zone’s Maliu Town in Dazhou, Sichuan, the Fangda Da Steel relocation and upgrading project is well underway. Covering an area of 5,590 acres, the project is one of Sichuan’s 100 major industrial projects and has a planned total investment of 15 billion yuan. Currently, more than 600 workers are involved in the project, and progress is about 20 days ahead of schedule.
Henan province recently held on-site office activities to promote the start of major project construction in Hebi, Luoyang, and Zhoukou simultaneously. The local government emphasized the importance of grasping and planning projects to seek development, noting that this has become a social consensus.
Nationwide, fixed asset investment (excluding rural households) has increased by 3.1% year-on-year, with infrastructure and manufacturing investment also seeing growth. This stability in fixed asset investment has been credited with supporting the Chinese economy throughout the year.
With an accelerated use of local special bonds and additional special treasury bonds, China aims to stimulate investment and promote the bottoming out of the economy before the end of the year. Expectations for a similar investment structure in the fourth quarter and next year include maintaining growth in industrial investment at 9% to 10%, and infrastructure investment at 6% to 8%.
Looking ahead, local governments are focusing on planning key projects for next year which will concentrate on transportation infrastructure, energy, agriculture, forestry, water conservancy, major national strategies, affordable housing projects, new infrastructure, and more. The Hainan Provincial Development and Reform Commission has issued a notice specifying investment plans for major projects in 2024, with an emphasis on tourism, modern service, high-tech and tropical high-efficiency agriculture industries.
There are high expectations for proactive fiscal policy and increased efficiency next year, including moderate expansion of the deficit rate and government bond issuance scale. This will provide a strong impetus to the economy, leading to high-speed growth and improvements in market expectations.