At the start of the new year, Shaanxi, Anhui, Hunan and other regions saw major projects launched in a concentrated manner.

On January 2, 2024, the Hefei-Wuhan high-speed railway (Anhui section) and the 2024 province-wide launch mobilization meeting for the first batch of major projects was held in Anhui Province, involving 460 major projects with a total investment of 489.63 billion yuan; on January 3, Hunan Province held the 2024 province-wide concentrated launch ceremony for major projects, launching 11 major projects with a total investment of 87.2 billion yuan.

"The concentrated launch of the first batch of major projects in multiple regions has laid a good foundation for investment in 2024," He Daixin, director of the Fiscal Research Office of the National Academy of Economic Strategy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told reporters. The smooth launch of the first batch of major projects benefited from early planning and early investment at the end of 2023.

Judging from the distribution of the major projects launched in various regions, infrastructure construction projects remain the focus. For example, among the key projects launched in Shaanxi Province, there are 80 infrastructure projects with a total investment of 30.762 billion yuan.

Sheng Lei, deputy director of the Investment Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Macroeconomic Research, said in an interview with reporters that the infrastructure projects launched include both projects to improve the quality and efficiency of traditional infrastructure and livelihood projects, as well as industrial infrastructure projects that lay the foundation for building a modern industrial system led by scientific and technological innovation.

"It should be noted that when expanding investment through infrastructure projects, all regions need to fully weigh the pros and cons, comprehensively consider the distribution of production capacity, and avoid structural contradictions and reduce financial risks to the greatest extent possible," Tian Huimin, a special commentator for the Beijing Reform and Development Research Association, told reporters.

Emerging industries have become an important lever for expanding investment. For example, among the 460 projects deployed in Anhui Province, there are 253 projects in the top ten emerging industries, with a total investment of 247.66 billion yuan. Among the 63 projects launched in a concentrated manner in Xiamen, 25 involve industries such as new energy, new materials, and biomedicine, accounting for 39.68%.

Luo Timing, a senior investment adviser at Jufeng Investment Advisory, told reporters that emerging industry projects focus on fields such as 5G and smart manufacturing, meet the needs of industrial upgrading, and represent the direction of high-quality economic development.

Tian Huimin said: "Developing emerging industry projects will create new employment opportunities and business models and drive economic and social development into a virtuous cycle."

Around the construction of major projects, many regions have also introduced a series of measures. For example, Henan Province issued the "Several Policy Measures to Promote a 'Good Start' in the Economy in the First Quarter of 2024," proposing to hold the 11th "Three Batches" project construction activity, while conducting immediate online and offline verification of projects, reporting project evaluation and progress conversion, and striving for the first-quarter start-up rate of projects signed in the current period to reach 70%.

"A series of supporting measures have provided guarantees for the high-quality and efficient advancement of major projects and created favorable conditions for cultivating new growth drivers," Tian Huimin said. She is optimistic about the overall situation of China's major project construction in 2024, especially that the construction of emerging industry projects will create favorable conditions for accelerating the development of the digital economy and building a digital China.