Since the beginning of this year, investment and construction in many fields have made remarkable efforts. On April 9th, the Securities Daily reporter learned from China National Railway Corporation (hereinafter referred to as 'China State Railway Group Co.,Ltd.') that in the first quarter of this year, the fixed assets investment of national railways was 106.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.1%, and 447 kilometers of new railway lines were opened, including 233 kilometers of high-speed railway.
Pang Yun, chief economist and chief strategist of Huaxing Securities (Hong Kong), said in an interview with Securities Daily that at present, there are many internal and external uncertainties in China's economic development, so the macro-policy should combine cross-cyclical adjustment with counter-cyclical adjustment, increase efforts to boost domestic demand and play a key role in investment. Railway construction is not only related to the national economy and people's livelihood, but also an important starting point for steady investment and growth.
According to the statistics of the Ministry of Transport, in March alone, the national railway fixed assets investment reached 50.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of about 6.8%.
Fu Yifu, a senior researcher at Star Finance Research Institute, said in an interview with Securities Daily that, on the one hand, railway construction has a strong leading role in the economic development of underdeveloped areas, which can greatly improve the local industrial development environment and provide channels for the convenient flow of modern economic production factors such as capital, talents and information, thus driving local economic development and residents to become rich; On the other hand, strengthening railway construction can optimize regional economic development pattern, break regional barriers, strengthen regional linkage, and provide guarantee for regional integration and coordinated development in China. At the same time, railway construction will effectively promote the growth of infrastructure, cement, steel and other basic industries, effectively stimulate employment and help China's high-quality economic development.
Water conservancy construction is another important area of infrastructure investment. Zhang Xiangwei, director of the Planning Department of the Ministry of Water Resources, recently revealed that in the first quarter of this year, the national water conservancy investment was 107.7 billion yuan, an increase of 35% compared with the same period last year.
'It can be seen that since the beginning of this year, China's infrastructure investment has accelerated, and project construction funds are also accelerating.' Fu Yifu said that from the whole first quarter, the growth rate of infrastructure investment may be 8% to 10%. With the further implementation of relevant policies, infrastructure investment is expected to continue to accelerate beyond expectations, opening up more room for growth.
Zheng Houcheng, director of Great Britain Securities Research Institute, said in an interview with Securities Daily that due to the year-on-year growth of 8.1% in infrastructure investment in the first two months and the good performance of PMI in the construction industry in March, it is expected that the growth rate of infrastructure investment in the first quarter will fluctuate between 7.0% and 8.5%.