China vows to expand budget investment to boost economic growth in 2025: NDRC

China plans to roll out more investment projects, including 100 billion yuan ($14.2 billion) from next year's central government budget and another 100 billion yuan to be used for key investment projects by the end of this year, an official with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said on Tuesday.

The remarks were made at the press conference held by the State Council Information Office on Tuesday, during which officials introduced the implementation of a package of incremental pro-growth policies, reflecting the government's resolve to fire up the economy, which is facing the downturn pressure.

And, investment plans worth a hundred billion yuan are expected to be released prior to the end of this year, the commission officials said.

There is a wide range of key areas to be the focus of investment. The investment within the central budget will continue to support basic, public welfare, and long-term projects, and accelerate addressing gaps in China's modernization drive, said Liu Sushe, Vice-Minister of the NDRC.

In terms of consumption, the focus will go to increasing the income of middle- and low-income groups, implementing plans to boost domestic consumption, and expanding the consumption of services such as elderly care and child care.

China has steadily ramped up efforts to boost its economy, backed up with a significant amount of investment already in place since the beginning of this year as it is noted in the Government Work Report delivered by the State Council to the National People's Congress in March.

China's central government has allocated 700 billion yuan ($98.93 billion) from its budget for project investment in "national major strategies and capacity-building for security in key areas," according to Zheng.

Additionally, the 1 trillion yuan of ultra-long special treasury bonds, which fund major national strategies and support security-capability as well as the development of new quality productive forces, has been fully allocated to the projects and local governments.

Looking ahead, Zheng said that China will continue issuing ultra-long special treasury bonds in 2025.

Zheng said that the expansion of the magnitude and scale of the proceeds from issuing the special bonds should be studied, and specific reform measures to be introduced to accelerate economic growth.

Also, the government will try to stimulate private investment, implement new mechanisms for deeper cooperation between local governments and social capital, and support social capital's participation in the construction of new infrastructure projects, Zheng said.