Chinese government is planning to expedite the rollout of major infrastructure projects in a bid to reverse incipient signs of economic slowdown.
The country's top economic planning agency announced on Tuesday (Jan 19) that it will moderately front-load infrastructure investment to help drive the implementation of 102 mega projects earmarked for the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25).
Given how contracting domestic demand and sluggish consumption growth have emerged as two major weaknesses in the Chinese economy, infrastructure investment is seen a critical requirement.
At a mere 0.4 percent annual growth rate, China's infrastructure investment in 2021 was almost flat compared to the previous year. The infrastructure investment is estimated to grow 5-percent in 2022.
Hit by headwinds on multiple fronts including domestic COVID-19, power crisis, supply chain bottlenecks and real estate sector debacles, China’s economy grew by a tepid 4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2021 slowing from the 4.9 per cent growth in the third (July to September) quarter.
While China 's GDP expanded by 8.1 per cent in 2021 (boosted by 18.3 percent growth in the first and 7.9 percent in second quarter), the country's GDP growth is projected to moderate at around 5.5 percent in 2022.
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