China's state planner announced the start of a high-speed railway project in the northern provinces of Liaoning and Jilin. The announcement was also accompanied by the country's promise to fulfill more infrastructure projects in the country after it approved two railway projects.
According to Reuters, China is set on fulfilling its plans for major infrastructure projects by 2020. The country's state planner revealed that China plans to invest 800 billion yuan or approximately 114.38 billion USD in railway investments. It was also announced that about 1.8 trillion yuan would be lodged for the highway and waterway projects while 90 billion yuan would be set for civil aviation investments by 2020.
Minister of Transport Li Xiaopeng said last Thursday that through the state radio that the country has initially approved the construction of a high-speed railway project with an allotted budget of 72.29 billion yuan or 10.34 billion USD. The said project would cover the northeastern provinces of the country such as Liaoning and Jilin.
Li further announced that China has also approved two railway projects that would link the inner cities of Mongolia and the Ningxia regions of China. The said railway investments for the projects were valued at 54.63 billion yuan. The National Development and Reform Committee (NDRC) announced the approval of these projects through its official website.
Furthermore, it was announced that the NDRC has also approved the budget for a coming airport project to be created in the southern Jiangxi province of China. The said airport project would cost about 1.66 billion yuan.
In other news, the South China Morning Post reported that China is set on creating more jobs to alleviate its slowing economic growth. The said measures that the country has taken include the establishment of these railway projects and other infrastructure constructions to create more jobs for its citizens.
It was also reported that the State Council announced targeted measures to prevent the risk of mass unemployment. Furthermore, it was discussed that funding for small businesses and migrant workers would also form part of the country's initiatives along with developing labor-intensive service industries.
During the Central Economic Work Conference earlier this month, Beijing's policymakers announced that the country would prioritize social stability with a promise that it would prevent trade tensions between China and the United States. The report claimed that the trade war would disrupt China's plan to improve its economic stability by 2020 and that, when needed, the country would reduce the proportion of government funding in some infrastructure projects as well.
