China mulls new projects to boost investment

BEIJING - The economic planner is likely to announce a batch of projects to help stabilize growth and boost investment, an official said on Friday.

New projects will be in line with macro-economic policies, said Luo Guosan, deputy director of the Department of Fixed Asset Investment under the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

Since September last year, the NDRC has approved seven project packages on information, electricity, oil and gas network, environmental protection and clean energy, he said.

Overall investment has been falling remarkably, but investment in infrastructure has been rising quickly, he said.

National fixed asset investment only expanded 13.5 percent in the first quarter (Q1) year on year, 4.1 percentage points lower than in Q1 2014, he said.

However, investment in infrastructure grew 23.1 percent in Q1, up 0.6 percentage point year on year. Of the total, investment in road and waterways grew 15.2 percent year on year, up 3.8 percentage points from Q1 2014, Luo said.

Land supply for infrastructure picked up 0.6 percent in Q1 year on year, while supply for industrial warehouses and property development dropped 26.1 percent and 38.7 percent, respectively, indicating government investment had accelerated, Luo said.