China’s fixed-asset investment gets off to a good start

In the first quarter of 2022, China’s fixed-asset investment was up 9.3 percent year on year, getting off to a good start.

Employees inspect transmission towers in Anhui province, part of an ultrahigh-voltage direct-current transmission project. SONG WEIXING/FOR CHINA DAILY

The 102 mega projects earmarked for the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025) are being steadily pushed forward. Of these projects, notable progress has been achieved in stabilizing investment in transport infrastructure projects.

According to Zheng Jian, deputy director of the Department of Infrastructure Development at the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), in the Jan-March period, China’s fix asset investment in the transport industry is expected to reach 636 billion yuan ($95.15 billion), an increase of about 9.8 percent year-on-year.

Sun Wei, deputy director of the Department of Innovation and High-Tech Development, the NDRC, explained that in the first quarter of this year, China has built 81,000 new 5G base stations, bringing the total number to over 1.5 million, as well as 549,000 new gigabit network ports, taking their total to 8.41 million, capable of covering 300 million families.

Li Mingchuan, deputy director of the Department of Rural Economy, the NDRC, said that the commission will allocate a large portion of its budget to support the effective supply of food and important agricultural products, and ramp up investment so as to improve agricultural infrastructure and boost comprehensive productive capacity, to enable the agricultural sector to cope with external uncertainties.

This year, the NDRC has allocated 22.6 billion yuan to support farmland infrastructure projects across the country. It will earmark a total of 3 billion yuan this year to push forward two sci-tech projects, including a project focused on boosting the modern seed industry and another project on improving the country’s capabilities to protect animals and plants.

According to Li, this year the country will allocate 3.5 billion yuan to manage agriculture-related pollution in the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the Yellow River Basin, and support counties which see the animal and husbandry industry as a pillar industry, to turn animal waste into resources.

Sun Zhicheng, deputy director of the Department of Social Development, the NDRC, explained that the central government will invest more in the healthcare sector during the 14th Five-Year Plan period than it did during the previous Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), with a great portion of this investment going to major projects such as epidemic prevention and control, expansion of high-quality medical resources and the revitalization of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

At the beginning of this year, the country earmarked 3.38 billion yuan to support construction of 61 projects, including laboratory construction and purchase of disease diagnosis and treatment equipment in nine land border areas.

“This year, the country plans to build about 30 national TCM epidemic prevention and treatment bases across the country,” Sun said.