Source: CCTV.com

11-12-2008 08:59

Special Report:   Global Financial Crisis

As part of its stimulus package China is planning to invest in basic infrastructure to stimulate growth in the country's transportation sector.

The Ministry of Transport announced on Tuesday that it is planning to spend nearly 1 trillion yuan in fixed asset investment annually over the next 2 years.

The Ministry of Transport announced on Tuesday that it is planning to spend nearly 1 trillion yuan in fixed asset investment annually over the next 2 years. 
The Ministry of Transport announced on Tuesday that it is
planning to spend nearly 1 trillion yuan in fixed asset 
investment annually over the next 2 years. 

The state investment will mainly focus on roads, airports and various basic infrastructure. It's expected that the move will stimulate sector growth and create more jobs.

He Jianzhong, Spokesperson of Ministry of Transport said "The earlier snowstorm, and the Sichuan earthquake have exposed the bottlenecks of the domestic road system. So road construction is one of the top priorities of our post-quake reconstruction work. Around 6 billion yuan will be invested in this area."

The central government will spend nearly 3 billion yuan for regional airport expansions. While around 10 billion yuan will be used for road construction in general, with another 10 billion yuan to be specifically invested in the construction of highways and rural roads.

He Jianzhong said "It's estimated that our fixed-asset investment this year could reach 800 billion yuan, while the amount could be 300 billion in the 4th quarter alone. Our investments will be in the trillions over the next 2 years. Our investments will be concentrated in the central and western regions, because those places need to build more bridges and tunnels, so they require more steel and cements. So we should give them more support."

Guan Changyu, Deputy Director of Planning & Design Inst. of Ministry of Transport said "One kilometer of road will consume 9,000 tons of cement, and 1,000 tons of steel. So far we have nearly 12,000 kilometers of highways under construction. So a one hundred million yuan road construction project could provide 1,800 jobs, and nearly 2,100 in indirect employment."

China has 85,000 kilometers of highways at the moment, but nearly 14 percent of that is still under construction. The Ministry of Transport says the country will speed up its projects and simplify application procedures to improve efficiency.

 

Editor:Xiong Qu