Recently, the Sichuan Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government officially studied and finalized the list of provincial key projects for 2017. A total of 700 projects were included in the provincial key project list, setting a record high in history.

To promote project construction and accelerate economic and social development, as early as 1986 Sichuan Province began establishing a provincial key project construction leading group, determining a batch of key projects each year and making every effort to advance them. The number ranged from as few as two or three hundred to as many as 500. In 2016, the province launched its first "Project Year," and the number of provincial key projects increased to 631. This year the province continues the "Project Year" campaign, and the number of provincial key projects has accordingly continued to grow, reaching a record 700.

The 700 provincial key projects have a planned total investment of about 3.99 trillion yuan, with an annual planned investment of more than 460 billion yuan. Among them, 433 are continued projects with a planned total investment of 2.59 trillion yuan and an expected annual investment of 343.4 billion yuan; 267 are newly started projects with a planned total investment of 1.4 trillion yuan, and 60 projects are expected to be completed and put into operation during the year.

In terms of project numbers, industrial projects still account for the largest share: 361 projects, more than half of the total provincial key projects, with a planned total investment of 1.78 trillion yuan. In terms of investment amount, infrastructure projects are the primary force: 247 projects with a planned investment of 1.79 trillion yuan and an annual planned investment of more than 200 billion yuan.

Among the projects planned to start construction are railway projects such as the Chengdu-Xining Railway, the Zigong-Yibin section of the South Sichuan Intercity Railway, the Chengdu Tianfu International Airport-Zigong Railway, and the Chongqing-Kunming Railway, as well as 14 expressway projects including the Leshan-Xichang Expressway. The Leshan-Xichang Expressway is 254 kilometers long with a total investment of 39.4 billion yuan. The project starts in Leshan City, passes through Shizhong District, Shawan District, Wutongqiao District, Muchuan County, and Mabian County of Leshan City and Leibo County and Meigu County of Liangshan Prefecture, and ends in Zhaojue County, connecting to Xichang City via the Xichang-Zhaotong Expressway. Together with the Chengdu-Leshan Expressway, the Chengdu-Leshan-Xichang Expressway is about 400 kilometers long, roughly equivalent to the Chengdu-Ya'an-Xichang route.

The Chengdu-Xining Railway starts in Xining City, passes through Haidong City and Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai Province, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Gansu Province, and Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province, and connects at Huangshengguan Station of the Chengdu-Lanzhou Railway under construction, after which it shares the alignment with the Chengdu-Lanzhou Railway under construction. The project involves more than 530 kilometers of newly built line.