Approval of airport projects has also accelerated
According to the official website of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) on August 23, the "List of Encouraged Private Investment Projects in the Civil Aviation Sector" was jointly announced by the CAAC and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). The list includes 28 projects such as the Ezhou Civil Airport, Hohhot New Airport, and Hong Kong Airport High-end Logistics Cargo Terminal, with an estimated total investment of 110 billion yuan.
This is the implementation of the spirit of the State Council executive meeting held a month ago. The State Council executive meeting on July 23 proposed to stimulate the enthusiasm of private investment and to promote a batch of large projects dominated by private investment in transportation, oil and gas, telecommunications, aviation and other fields. "The above list is tailor-made for 'filling shortcomings, promoting reform, and adjusting structure', with strong pertinence," a responsible person from the NDRC told reporters. "We will also release the second and third batches of lists in due course."
It is understood that the projects in the list are mainly private investment, including 11 projects with confirmed private investment and 17 projects intended to attract private investment, totaling 28.
This is just a microcosm of the accelerated approval of infrastructure projects recently.
Reporters learned that since July, from the NDRC and the Ministry of Transport at the national level to various provinces and cities, the approval of infrastructure projects has been "accelerated further", and a large number of airport investment projects have followed.
"The relocated Luzhou Airport and the expanded Zunyi Xinzhou Airport have both started construction, and the relocated Zhaotong Airport has been approved for project initiation," an insider from the CAAC confirmed to reporters, stating that this year the approval progress of major projects has been accelerated, and active support has been given in project funding arrangements.
"Since July, the approval of projects by relevant departments has clearly accelerated," Feng Jianlin, chief macroeconomist of Fushengde, told reporters. In conjunction with the State Council meeting's proposal to accelerate the approval of railway, highway, urban rail transit, airport, and engineering projects, but not to rush headlong into mass construction. "The same applies to PPP projects; we must never engage in excessive flooding," Feng Jianlin said.
Airport projects approved intensively
According to reporters' inquiries, among the 28 airport projects, the Taizhou Airport expansion project is included. The main construction of the airport expansion involves an investment of 3.546 billion yuan and will adopt a PPP financing method.
It is reported that the Taizhou Airport expansion project has been listed as a major civil airport construction project in Zhejiang Province's "13th Five-Year Plan". On December 29 last year, the Zhejiang Provincial Development and Reform Commission issued a notice of acceptance for government investment projects, and the East China Regional Administration of CAAC issued the "Review Opinions on the Pre-feasibility Study Report of the Taizhou Airport Expansion Project". This is a microcosm of airport project approval entering the fast lane.
Reporters learned from the NDRC that the commission recently approved the feasibility study report of the Lishui Airport project, which is planned to start construction before the National Day this year. In addition, projects such as Chongqing Jiangnan General Airport, Hubei Ezhou Civil Airport, and Qinghai Guide General Airport have also been approved.
Related to this, various regions have also successively released airport project layouts.
Jiangsu Province recently announced the layout system for Jiangsu aviation for the next nearly 20 years. Among them, Xuzhou alone has laid out 8 general airports.
According to the Jiangsu Provincial General Airport Layout Plan, Xuzhou has 8 general airports: Yangmiao, Xinyi, Jiawang, Tongshan, Fengxian, Peixian, Suining, and Pizhou. According to the functional layout of general airports: Xinyi, Tongshan, and Peixian are public service general airports; Yangmiao, Fengxian, Pizhou, and Suining are production service general airports; Jiawang is an industry-supporting general airport.
Almost simultaneously, news of approved airport projects in Hubei also followed.
Recently, the "Land Conservation Evaluation Report for the Hubei Ezhou Civil Airport Project" and the "Land Survey and Demonstration Report for the Hubei Ezhou Civil Airport Project" successfully passed the review. At the beginning of this year, the state officially approved the construction of the Ezhou Edong Civil Transport Airport, thus completing the approval process for the Edong Airport.
It is reported that the Ezhou Civil Airport project has been included in the project list announced by the CAAC this time, with a total investment of 37.2 billion yuan. The Edong Airport is positioned as a regional airport, located near Duwan Village, Yanji Town, Echeng District, Ezhou City. According to the state approval, the construction standard of Edong Airport is to meet a passenger throughput of 1 million person-times by 2025 and 1.5 million person-times by 2030.
Reporters found that among the 13 prefecture-level cities in Hubei Province, only Wuhan, Xiangyang, Yichang, Enshi, Shiyan, and Shennongjia Forestry District have airports, which is significantly fewer than other provinces.
In addition to the impressive airport projects in Jiangsu and Hubei, other places are also intensively laying out airport projects. For example, Beijing is accelerating the construction of the new Beijing Airport, which is less than a year away from completion.
According to the CAAC website on August 1, in the first half of this year, 93 general airports in China obtained certificates, 1.2 times the total of all previous years. Currently, there are 404 airports certified to support general aviation takeoff and landing.
From the provinces and cities that have released the list of key construction projects for 2018, there are three regions with total planned project investment exceeding 5 trillion yuan: Guangdong, Anhui, and Yunnan. Anhui Province has the most planned projects, close to 6,000.
The investment in these projects is of great significance and needs to be driven by social capital. "Private investment may not be interested in investing solely in airports," a professor from Civil Aviation University of China who studies comprehensive transportation and declined to be named told reporters. For enterprises, investing in airports also requires combining aviation advantages with real estate development, tourism, and other related industries to drive integrated development.
Building a batch of general airports
A month later, a batch of airport projects have been announced, including Chongqing Jiangnan General Airport, Hubei Ezhou Civil Airport, Qinghai Guide General Airport, etc., which are dazzling.
"Do the preliminary work well and ensure construction starts before the end of October," Feng Zhenglin, Vice Minister of Transport and Director of the CAAC, recently stated publicly that the newly approved projects must be advanced on schedule.
"For the confirmed private investment airport projects, relevant parties will, from the perspective of project implementation, accelerate the preliminary work and construction, and put them into operation as soon as possible to form a demonstration and leading role," a responsible person from the NDRC told reporters. The implementation of these airport projects will optimize the investment structure in the civil aviation sector.
"In the first batch of the list, there are 12 projects in general aviation alone, with a total investment of 15.5 billion yuan," the person said.
According to the list, these 12 projects include 2 in Zhejiang, 2 in Chongqing, 1 in Qinghai, 1 in Changchun, Jilin, 1 in Shandong, 1 in Jiangxi, 2 in Shaanxi, and 2 in Sichuan.
Adapting to the national trend of opening low-altitude airspace, the ambition to vigorously develop general aviation is not small. In May 2016, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Development of General Aviation Industry", clearly stating that the approval authority for general airport planning and construction has been delegated to local governments.
During the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, the CAAC actively supported the construction of civil aviation infrastructure in poverty-stricken areas. In March 2016, the CAAC revised the interim measures for the management of investment subsidies for airport projects, increasing financial support for airport construction projects in the region. In April 2017, the CAAC further accelerated the promotion of civil aviation airport projects in poverty-stricken areas and did a good job in civil aviation service development and construction in poverty-stricken areas.
"We will also build a batch of general airports," said Feng Zhenglin, Vice Minister of Transport and Director of the CAAC, at the fourth meeting of the General Aviation Leading Group of the CAAC on July 31. He pointed out that the current development of general aviation has increased the intensity of "decentralization, management, and service" and the policy guidance effect is remarkable. As of the end of June, 430,000 hours of general aviation flights had been completed, a year-on-year increase of 14.7%. Various development indicators of general aviation are improving, showing a good trend of "heating up and taking off".
Data shows that from January to June this year, China's net increase was 118 general aviation aircraft, with 2,415 registered general aircraft, and 230,000 various drones registered under real names; 39 new general aviation enterprises were added, bringing the total to 392.
Feng Zhenglin pointed out that it is necessary to accelerate the construction of general aviation airports, speed up the approval process, and issue certificates as soon as possible for completed general airports. "This list covers traditional civil aviation projects such as transport airport construction, general airport construction, and cargo logistics, as well as emerging civil aviation projects such as drone logistics distribution, drone flight calibration, and airborne data communication," Feng Zhenglin said. The CAAC strives to initially establish a regulatory system and service guarantee system suitable for China's general aviation development in 2 to 3 years.