Road, waterway investment fall over 7%

BEIJING - China's spending on road and waterway infrastructure amounted to 185.4 billion yuan ($29.43 billion) during the first quarter of 2012, down 7.7 percent year-on-year, an official said.

Of the total investment, 157.5 billion yuan went to the road transportation sector, a decrease of 9.5 percent from one year earlier, He Jianzhong, spokesman for the Ministry of Transport, said at a regular press briefing.

The country's eastern, central and western regions invested 64.6 billion yuan, 38.2 billion yuan and 82.6 billion yuan in road and waterway transportation during the first quarter, down by 10.2 percent, 12.9 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively, He said.

Some infrastructure projects may face cash shortages this year as a result of the country's tightened credit policy, especially its strict control over the issuance of short-term loans, according to the spokesman.

The central government's funding for transportation will climb slightly this year, while local authorities may find it hard to allocate more capital for their own transportation funds, which will be a strain on some projects' finances, he said.