Infrastructure info to highlight the industrial economy of the future
China will seek to accelerate the rollout of a number of new information infrastructure projects to spur investment and consumption, officials and experts said on Tuesday.
The nation’s larger goal is to keep the broadly industrialized economy running within a reasonable range, they said.
The infrastructure boost follows recent data showing China’s industrial output, an important economic indicator, increased 3.4 percent year-on-year in the first half of the year despite challenges and uncertainty from the COVID-19 pandemic and a more complicated international environment.
With manufacturing accounting for a large proportion of GDP, the industrial economy will continue to be the cornerstone of the world’s second-largest economy, which will also help maintain global industrial and supply chain stability, experts say.
Tian Yulong, spokesman and chief engineer of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said efforts should be made to start a series of important projects in 5G, gigabit optical networks, industrial internet and other new information infrastructure as soon as possible, so as to expand investment and fuel consumption.
In the first half, fixed asset investment in telecommunications totaled 189.4 billion yuan ($28.1 billion), up 24.6 percent year-on-year. In June, China built more than 1.85 million 5G base stations and the number of 5G mobile subscribers reached 455 million, data from the ministry showed.
“We will increase efforts to encourage the consumption of new energy vehicles and green construction materials in rural areas,” Tian said.
In June, auto industry output increased 16.2 percent year-on-year, thanks to efforts to help automakers quickly resume production after the pandemic is better controlled.
New car sales jumped nearly 24 percent year-on-year to 2.5 million units in June, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. The strong momentum has accelerated the growth of the industry as a whole.
Another bright spot is that in the second quarter, value added by the manufacturing industry accounted for 28.8 percent of GDP, 1.4 percentage points higher than the figure in 2021. This is a very positive signal, Tian said.
Meanwhile, manufacturing investment increased 7.4 percent in the second quarter, or 3.2 percentage points higher than the fixed asset investment growth rate.
“Effective manufacturing investment will not only play an important role in stabilizing current growth, but also help optimize future industrial structures and cultivate new drivers for economic development,” said Liu Wenqiang, deputy head of the China Information Industry Development Consultancy Center, a consultancy based in China. in Beijing.
The data reflects the important role the industrial economy plays in underpinning China’s overall economic growth, Liu said. “China has a complete industrial system. As the country moves from a manufacturing powerhouse to a smart manufacturing hub, it will also help maintain the stability of global industry and supply chains.”
Jiang Yuan, deputy director of the industrial statistics department of the National Bureau of Statistics, said industrial production quickly resumed in May and June, with a series of targeted policies.
But the external environment remains challenging, market demand is weak and industrial capacity utilization rates remain low. Hard work is needed to ensure stable industrial operation, Jiang said.
