"Since the start of the year, as part of the Line 13 capacity expansion and upgrading project, the main structure of the Dongsanlu Station on Contract Section 12 has been under intensive construction, with over a hundred people on site going all out to advance the work. At present, the station's main works are nearly halfway complete; the shield machine is expected to be launched in April, and the station's main works are expected to be completed in the first half of the year," a project manager from the rail company under Beijing Infrastructure Investment Co. (BIIC) told reporters.

At the start of the new year, localities across the country are mustering their efforts, with a large batch of major transportation projects in full swing and multi-trillion-yuan transportation investment plans ready to be launched, striving for a strong "good start" in the first quarter and working with concerted effort to turn "blueprints" into "built reality." Industry insiders say that this year will see continued expansion of effective transportation investment, providing strong support for sustaining domestic demand and stabilizing the overall economy.

Project construction refreshes the "progress bar"

Construction of the Beijing Subway Line 1 branch line has begun, the Shanghai-Suzhou-Nantong Railway is being accelerated, and the Hubei section of the Tongcheng-Xiushui Expressway has fully started construction... Despite the biting cold and deep winter, project construction is in full swing.

A wave of rail transit projects has seen new progress. In Beijing, on January 18, construction of the Beijing Rail Transit Line 1 branch line started. "In 2024, Beijing will continue construction on 10 rail transit lines (sections), totaling 201.1 kilometers," a relevant person in charge of the rail company under BIIC revealed recently. In addition, in 2024, some planned projects in multiple central cities such as Chengdu, Xi'an, Wuhan, and Zhengzhou will be completed, and these cities will also usher in a peak of new urban rail transit line openings.

Batch after batch of major railway projects are in full swing. The continuous beam of the Chuansha Bridge over Chenyang Road on the Taicang-Situan section of the Shanghai-Suzhou-Nantong Railway was successfully closed; the realigned railway on the Baoji-Tianshui section of the Longhai Line was completed and opened to traffic half a year ahead of schedule; the Chizhou-Huangshan high-speed railway officially entered the joint commissioning and testing stage; and the Jiangjunmiao-Naomaohu Railway was officially opened for operation... Institutions estimate that the total scale of fixed asset investment in railways during the 14th Five-Year Plan period will be comparable to that of the 13th Five-Year Plan period, and that an average of 846.7 billion yuan per year will need to be completed in the last three years of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, during which a peak in high-speed railway construction and opening is expected.

The construction of one expressway after another continues to refresh the "progress bar." Recently, the Hangzhou-Shaoxing-Ningbo Expressway Hangzhou-Shaoxing section, the Ningbo Phase I of the Hangzhou-Ningbo double-track line, and the Dongyang (Jiangbei to Nanshi) section of the Yiwu-Dongyang Expressway were opened to traffic in a concentrated manner; the Hubei section of the Tongcheng-Xiushui Expressway fully started construction, and the Menglian-Menghai Expressway project entered the full construction stage.

"Major projects are starting construction in a concentrated manner for the New Year's push for a 'good start,' and weather conditions in some regions are relatively good, which is conducive to accelerating construction," said Zhong Zhengsheng, chief economist at Ping An Securities.

Experts say that accelerating investment in transportation construction projects helps enhance the vitality of economic development and also provides strong support for sustaining domestic demand and stabilizing the overall economy. To further improve transportation infrastructure and accelerate the building of a modern transportation system, we should base ourselves on the current actual transportation needs, coordinate economic and social benefits, make precise and effective investments, and give priority to implementing major projects and strategic projects with good comprehensive benefits and strong driving effects.

Enhancing the resilience of the comprehensive transportation system

While major transportation projects are being accelerated, Zhejiang, Qinghai, Hunan, Hebei, and many other places have successively held provincial transportation work conferences to further clarify their 2024 transportation investment plans, with trillions of yuan in project investments ready to be launched.

"In 2024, we will continue construction on 20 highway projects including Huangyuan-Xihai, strive to start construction on 5 new highway projects including Reshui-Jiangcang, complete 4 highway projects including Qutan-Hualong, add 2 provincial-level expressway corridors toward Gansu, push the total highway mileage open to traffic past 90,000 kilometers, and achieve the 14th Five-Year Plan targets one year ahead of schedule. Among them, expressways (including first-class highways) will be increased by another 200 kilometers on top of the planned target," said He Can, Party secretary and director of the Qinghai Provincial Department of Transportation, at the 2024 Qinghai Provincial Transportation Work Conference held a few days ago.

Looking across the country: Zhejiang plans to complete 350 billion yuan in comprehensive transportation investment for the whole of 2024, striving for 360 billion yuan, of which highway and waterway investment will exceed 240 billion yuan; Hunan plans to complete more than 84 billion yuan in transportation investment for the province; Hebei plans to complete 110 billion yuan in investment for the province, the highest planned investment in its history, up 6.3 percent year on year; Anhui strives to complete more than 130 billion yuan in transportation construction investment for the year; Jiangsu must ensure completion of 220 billion yuan in transportation infrastructure construction investment this year...

"This year we will continue to expand effective transportation investment, build a modern transportation infrastructure system, enhance the resilience of the comprehensive transportation system, consolidate the momentum of economic recovery and improvement, and play the pioneering role of transportation in China's high-quality development," said Wu Zhihua, deputy director of the Comprehensive Planning Department of the Ministry of Transport, recently.

A relevant person in charge of the Urban Construction Department of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said recently that investment completed each year in urban roads, bridges, tunnels, and rail transit is about 1 trillion yuan, accounting for about 60 percent of total investment in urban municipal public infrastructure construction. At this critical period of China's economic recovery and improvement, following the approach of moderately ahead-of-schedule infrastructure construction, carrying out overall planning and coordinated implementation, precisely shoring up shortcomings and strengthening weaknesses, and comprehensively advancing the construction of an urban comprehensive transportation system will make positive contributions to China's economic and social development.

Multiple construction companies win big orders

Reflected in the capital market, against the backdrop of investment efforts, a number of listed construction companies have recently announced that they have won major infrastructure orders.

On January 18, China Railway Signal & Communication announced that from November to December 2023, the company won a total of ten important projects in the rail transit market, including seven in the railway market and three in the urban rail transit market, with a total bid amount of approximately 3.064 billion yuan. On the evening of January 17, China Railway Group issued an announcement stating that the company had recently won 20 major projects, including 12 railway projects and 1 highway project, with a total bid price of approximately 122.338 billion yuan.

Beixin Road & Bridge announced on January 15 that in the fourth quarter of 2023 it newly won and signed 23 projects, with a total amount of approximately 8.428 billion yuan. It won the bid for the G0711 Expressway Interchange-21st Regiment-26th Regiment Highway Project (Contract Section III) of the Second Division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, with a bid price of approximately 359 million yuan.

In terms of newly signed contract amounts, the growth rate of newly signed contracts at some companies improved at the end of 2023. The growth rate of newly signed contracts at China Nuclear Engineering & Construction and China Metallurgical Group in December 2023 exceeded 25 percent; China Railway Group's newly signed contract amount in the fourth quarter of last year totaled 1,298.35 billion yuan, up 23.7 percent year on year.

"With the support of incremental funds, the structural opportunities in the construction of the three major projects and infrastructure investment are expected to continue to bring marginal increments to construction companies' newly signed contracts," said Zhu Jin, chief analyst for the real estate industry at China Securities.

A number of institutions believe that with the frequent introduction of stable growth policies, the fundamentals of leading construction companies are expected to improve. A report released by China Securities said that the issuance of the early batch of special bonds and the gradual arrival of 1 trillion yuan in additional government bond funds are expected to provide significant support for infrastructure in the first quarter, and project progress may accelerate; it is recommended to pay attention to central state-owned construction enterprises with high dividend yields, stable performance, and low valuations.