Infrastructure Investment Boost For The Economy

秦珊珊

The indexes of both manufacturing and non-manufactur­ing industries fell below the boom-or-bust line in March，in­dicating the need for stronger policy support to expand do­mestic demand and stabilize growth.

No wonder the National Development and Reform Com­mission，the country ，s top economic policy planner，urged all relevant departments to ensure that all of the 102 national key infrastructure projects be carried out as planned.

Given the mounting downward pressure to the economy，governments at various levels should appropriately advance their infrastructure projects so as to stimulate demand.

They should increase their investment in infrastructure construction of the following three kinds at least.

The first are key projects concerning people's liveli­hoods，such as water conservancy，transportation and energy projects，particularly those that appeared in the 14th Five- Year Plan （2021-25）.

The second kind are infrastructure projects that are key to promoting high- quality development，such as those relat­ed to the security and stability o£supply chains，industrial upgrading and the improvement of core competitiveness. Dig­ital infrastructure projects，and projects related to artificial intelligence，the industrial internet and the internet of things should gain the full support of governments.

The third kind are projects that are conducive to narrow­ing the regional development gaps and promoting quality ur­banization，such as those boosting the integrated development of Beijing，Tianjin and Hebei province，the Yangtze River Economic Belt，the Guangdong- Hong Kong- Macao Greater Bay Area and the Yangtze River Delta region.

中國制造业和非制造业3月份景气度均降至枯荣线以下，表明需要调整宏观政策，加大扩内需、稳增长的力度。

国家发展和改革委员会要求各相关部门，要确保“十四五”规划102项重大工程每一项任务落地见效。

在经济下行压力加大的情况下，各级政府应适当推进基础设施建设，刺激需求。

至少要加大对以下三种基础设施建设的投入。

第一类是关系民生的重点项目，如水利、交通和能源，尤其是“十四五”规划中出现的项目。

第二类是对促进高质量发展至关重要的基础设施项目，如与供应链安全稳定、产业升级和提高核心竞争力有关的项目。数字基础设施项目以及与人工智能、工业互联网和物联网相关的项目应得到政府的全力支持。

第三类是有利于缩小区域发展差距、推进新型城镇化建设的项目，如推进京津冀协同发展、长江经济带发展、粤港澳大湾区建设、长三角一体化发展的项目。

To avoid the increase of expenditure from aggravating local governments' debts，they should be allowed to issue more special bonds for these projects.

At the same time，it is good to see that the central gov­ernment will increase its transfer payments to local govern­ments by 18 percent this year compared with the previous year，the largest increase in recent years，nearly 9.8 trillion yuan （$1.54 trillion），which will help ease local govern­ments' spending pressure.

With infrastructure investment to be intensified，the progress of projects will be accelerated，which will stimulate the expansion of effective demand and play a strong support­ing role for economic growth.

为了缓解地方财政压力，可以更多地发放地方政府专项债券。

同时，今年中央对地方转移支付规模增长18%，这是近年来最大增幅，近9.8万亿元，这将有助于缓解地方政府的支出压力。

加大基础设施投资力度，加快项目进度，刺激有效需求扩大，将对经济增长起到有力支撑作用。