China's Costly Lockdown Consequences... Large-Scale Road Construction Ahead of GDP Announcement

Announcement of Nationwide China 1ㆍ2ㆍ3 Mobility Passes and Global 1ㆍ2ㆍ3 Logistics Passes
Interpreted as De Facto Relief Policy Including Priority Cash Payment of Workers' Wages

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Jo Young-shin] Ahead of the announcement of the second quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on the 15th, the Chinese government has announced plans to build a road network totaling 461,000 km by 2035.

Photo by China Daily Economic News Capture

Additionally, to expand employment, the government will implement seven major projects in transportation, energy, disaster recovery, and other sectors. Some analysts view this announcement as a relief-like economic stimulus measure.

According to Chinese media including the state-run Xinhua News Agency and China Economic Net on the 13th, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Ministry of Transport announced the "National Road Network Plan" to add roads so that the total road network in China reaches 461,000 km by 2035.

Of the 461,000 km of roads, 162,000 km will be expressways, Chinese media reported. The newly constructed expressways will include 11 north-south routes, 18 east-west routes, and 18 regional and metropolitan ring routes. They will be built in cities with populations over 100,000, and all expressways will connect to land and maritime borders, the reports added.

Through this, Chinese authorities aim to establish nationwide 1-2-3 mobility zones and global 1-2-3 logistics zones. The 1-2-3 mobility zones mean commuting within 1 hour in urban centers, traveling between urban centers within 2 hours, and traveling between major cities within 3 hours. The 1-2-3 logistics zones refer to one-day delivery within China, two-day delivery to neighboring countries, and three-day delivery to major global countries.

Zhou Xiaoqi, Deputy Director of the NDRC, said, "We will reform investment and financing policies for road construction such as expressways," mentioning Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs).

Xu Yang, Chief Economist at Hong Kong Zhongrui Fund, said, "Expressway construction requires enormous funds and time," and predicted, "Private capital such as REITs will be utilized for new expressway construction."

On the same day, the State Council released the "Plan for Promoting Employment through National Key Projects," which includes advancing seven national key construction projects in transportation, water resources, energy, disaster recovery, and more. It also instructed local governments to pay workers' wages in full and on time during construction projects.

This infrastructure construction plan, including expressways, was announced ahead of the second quarter GDP release on the 15th. Within China, the dominant forecast is that the second quarter economic growth rate will remain between 0 and 2%. There are also many criticisms that the Chinese leadership will pay a heavy price for the "zero-COVID policy."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.