A batch of projects started intensively, focusing on "two new and one heavy" and the areas of making up for shortcomings -
major projects provoke stable investment.
Our reporter Xiong Li
Busy new year.
Just after New Year's Day in 2022, major projects in many places have started in a concentrated manner to promote the steady and healthy development of the economy. Infrastructure, industrial upgrading, new infrastructure, and major livelihood projects have become important layout areas.
Experts said that this year's economic work should be stable and steady, and it will be a consensus that investment will support steady growth with greater strength. The growth of infrastructure investment is expected to usher in a "good start" and will provide strong support for steady growth throughout the year.
Major projects are in full swing
On January 4, the major projects in Sichuan Province will start in the first quarter of 2022. A total of 100 major projects of more than 1 billion yuan have been organized, with a total investment of 232.2 billion yuan, involving infrastructure, modern industry, people's livelihood and social undertakings.
On the same day, Anhui held the mobilization meeting for the first batch of major projects in the province in 2022. 731 major projects were started, with a total investment of 376.06 billion yuan and an annual planned investment of 126.25 billion yuan, involving strategic emerging industries, transportation, social undertakings and other fields. .
On January 5, the construction of 358 projects in Zhejiang Province started in a concentrated manner, with a total investment of 638.6 billion yuan and an annual planned investment of 92.1 billion yuan. It is planned that all substantive construction will start before the end of March.
On January 6, the first batch of major projects in five new cities in Shanghai started construction in a concentrated manner. 40 major projects involved high-end industries, technological innovation, infrastructure, major livelihood and other fields, with a total investment of 132.82 billion yuan.
Guangdong, Hebei and other places have also successively announced investment plans for key projects in the new year.
For example, Guangdong initially planned to invest 900 billion yuan in key projects in 2022, an increase of 100 billion yuan over 2021.
We will speed up the construction of projects under construction, start a batch of mature projects in a timely manner, and start construction of a number of key projects such as major transportation, energy and water conservancy, and urban pipeline networks ahead of schedule.
The "List of Key Construction Projects in Hebei Province in 2022" shows that a total of 695 key construction projects in Hebei will be arranged in 2022, with a total investment of 1.12 trillion yuan, and an investment of more than 250 billion yuan is expected to be completed within the year.
"At the beginning of the new year, there are frequent reports of the start of major projects in various places, indicating that investment has begun to accelerate." Wen Bin, chief researcher of China Minsheng Bank, said that on the one hand, to stabilize economic growth, we must increase efforts to boost domestic demand, and investment must play a key role. All regions, all departments and all aspects must actively form synergy.
On the other hand, the focus on starting major projects at the beginning of the year and increasing investment in related fields is a concrete manifestation of the implementation of policy efforts and moderately advanced infrastructure investment, which will help accelerate the formation of effective investment and stabilize the economic fundamentals.
Wang Jun, chief economist of Zhongyuan Bank, said that a certain scale of infrastructure investment and major engineering construction is still very necessary.
Accelerate the implementation of major projects and form a physical workload, especially increase investment in strategic emerging industries and the implementation of the "dual carbon" strategy, and focus on the construction of future-oriented and international competition-oriented major key and cross-regional infrastructure projects, which will effectively Play the role of "ballast stone" for major projects.
Stable investment ahead
The Central Economic Work Conference in 2021 requires that policy efforts should be appropriately advanced.
Ning Jizhe, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission and director of the National Bureau of Statistics, previously said that the first is to strengthen infrastructure.
Moderately advance infrastructure investment, and support the construction of water conservancy, transportation, ecological and environmental protection, agriculture and rural areas, municipal and new infrastructure.
The second is to release funds ahead of time.
Accelerate the release of investment within the central budget, and accelerate the pace of issuance of special bonds by local governments.
The third is to arrange projects ahead.
Adhere to the project to follow the plan, the capital element to follow the project, to form a physical workload as soon as possible, and to stimulate effective investment.
It is understood that by the end of 2021, the Ministry of Finance has issued a new special debt limit of 1.46 trillion yuan to local governments in advance in 2022.
According to the notice issued by the Ministry of Finance in conjunction with the National Development and Reform Commission, the special bond funds in 2022 will continue to focus on transportation infrastructure, energy, agriculture, forestry and water conservancy, ecological and environmental protection, social undertakings, urban and rural cold chain and other logistics infrastructure, municipal and industrial park infrastructure. , national major strategic projects, affordable housing projects and other 9 major directions.
Meng Wei, a spokesman for the National Development and Reform Commission, previously stated that a list of special bond preparation projects in 2022 has been formed, laying a solid project foundation for the accelerated issuance and use of special bonds in 2022.
"In the first half of 2022, the downward pressure on the economy is relatively prominent, so it is required that the policy force should be appropriately advanced, and the policy should be put to good use when the pressure increases to ensure that the economy operates in a reasonable range." Wen Bin said that the special debt limit was issued in advance. , forming a preparation list for special bond projects in advance, these measures will help special bonds to form a physical workload as soon as possible, and play a role in stabilizing investment and growth.
Wang Jun believes that the rhythm of fund issuance in 2022 should be ahead of schedule, speeding up the progress and making efforts in advance.
From a policy perspective, the fiscal policy in 2022 should be more active, with greater spending intensity and faster spending progress, to ensure that the Chinese economy can operate within a reasonable range.
In Wang Jun's view, the increased downward pressure on the economy will highlight the unique role of infrastructure investment as a key variable in stabilizing growth and an important starting point for counter-cyclical adjustment.
As the government strengthens cross-cycle adjustment, gradually relaxes fiscal policy and accelerates the progress of fiscal expenditure, it will help to improve the source of funds for infrastructure investment and help the growth of infrastructure investment to stabilize and rebound.
In particular, it is necessary to moderately advance the construction of new infrastructure, and it is expected to gradually undertake some of the market space for the slowdown of traditional infrastructure investment in the future.
"Considering that there is usually a one to two quarters time lag between the issuance of special bonds and the formation of infrastructure investment, it is expected that the counter-cyclical nature of infrastructure will be fully reflected in the second quarter of 2022 at the earliest and in the second half of 2022 at the latest, and the growth rate of infrastructure investment will be fully reflected. Or rebound to 5% to 6%." Wang Jun said.
High-quality investment drives high-quality development
The reporter found that promoting high-quality development with high-quality investment is a common feature of major projects in various places.
For example, Hebei Province stated that it will focus on high-quality development, highlight the advancement and integrity of projects, prioritize strategic emerging industry projects, prioritize chain building, extension chain, supplement chain and strong chain projects, and prioritize products and technologies to fill domestic and foreign markets. For blank projects, priority will be given to major projects of people's livelihood.
Key projects in Zhejiang Province are mainly concentrated in clean energy, rail transit, Anlan project, public health, basic education, cultural tourism, urban organic renewal, digital economy, new materials, biomedicine, etc.
Wang Jun believes that in 2022, the focus of fiscal policy should focus on the construction of major projects, and infrastructure construction should be carried out moderately ahead of schedule. Effective investment in projects and areas that make up for shortcomings, speed up the construction of 5G, gigabit broadband, integrated big data centers, etc., and use public spending to drive private capital investment.
Wen Bin said that to expand effective investment, it is necessary to focus on key investment areas, key areas that are related to the national economy and people's livelihood, areas that have achieved remarkable results in making up for shortcomings, areas that have obvious effects in stimulating economic and social development, and those that have a prominent role in promoting economic transformation and upgrading and high-quality development. In the field, continue to increase the scale of investment and policy support.
In terms of funding sources, it is necessary to effectively use public finance, special bonds, bank credit, industrial funds, social capital and other funds according to the characteristics of the project. Invalid investment.
In addition, policy synergy must be formed.
For major, high-quality, and effective projects, policy support should cover the entire investment process as much as possible to avoid blockages and poor links, which will affect investment efficiency.
"In 2022, it has become the consensus of all parties that investment will support stable growth with greater strength, and expanding effective investment will become a powerful starting point for counter-cyclical adjustment." Wen Bin said.
Looking forward to the investment in the whole year, Wen Bin believes that some major projects have already started or are ready to go ahead, and the growth of infrastructure investment is expected to usher in a "good start", which is expected to produce significant results in the underlying economy throughout the year.
Overall, it is expected that the contribution rate of total capital formation to the year-on-year GDP growth in 2022 will rebound significantly compared with 2021, and investment will play a key role in stabilizing growth.