China on Monday outlined plans to boost infrastructure construction by 2015 through transport and energy projects, as part of efforts to speed up urbanization and support economic growth.
China
on
Monday outlined plans to boost infrastructure construction by 2015 through
transport and energy projects, as part of efforts to speed up urbanization and
support economic growth.
The projects would contribute to stable economic growth and help push ahead
with urbanization, the State Council, the country's cabinet, said in a
statement on the main government website.
China
will
add 50% or 1,000 kilometers of urban rail networks by 2015, the statement said.
The country currently has a total of 2,100 km of rail transit in 18 cities, the
government previously said.
Authorities will also expand and upgrade an 80,000-km natural gas pipeline and
finish construction of 73,000 km of new sewage lines over the same period, the
statement said. It didn't specify how much authorities planned to spend or name
the cities that would be affected.
Infrastructure spending has been a cornerstone of Chinese policy to ensure that
employment remains strong and the economy reaches the government growth target
of 7.5% this year.
Beijing
has
also loosened curbs on rural-urban migration in order to spur domestic
consumption, speed up the country's urbanization and ultimately boost economic
growth. However, rapid migration has put strains on infrastructure in cities.
"Strengthening urban infrastructure can help boost economic restructuring
and change the economic growth mode, contributing to investment and consumption
while expanding employment," the statement said.
Premier Li Keqiang, a big supporter of faster urbanization, has said that the
process could produce substantial social and financial dividends and become a
development driver for the world's second-largest economy.
Analysts, however, weren't enthused by the plans.
"Infrastructure investment will likely remain a main policy tool for
Beijing
to
stabilize growth when other sectors such as manufacturing and property are
losing momentum," said Wendy Chen, a Nomura China economist. "But
since the government had already invested so much in infrastructure, it's
unclear how big of a boost the new policies will give," she said.
In April, the economic planning agency approved a 63 billion yuan ($10.3
billion) project to build 14 subway lines in the city of
Kunming
,
southern
Yunnan
province, between 2013 and 2019.
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