China launches 182 major infrastructure projects in Q1

The number of major infrastructure and manufacturing projects launched in China saw robust growth in the first quarter of 2025, with large-scale projects leading the expansion and reinforcing the economy's upward momentum, according to the latest data from the State Taxation Administration (STA).

In the first three months, the number of large-scale projects surged by 41.8 percent year-on-year, with ground being broken on 182 major projects each valued at more than 1 billion yuan ($138 million), CCTV News reported.

The total investment in these projects reached 340 billion yuan, up 39.1 percent year-on-year, according to the STA.

Transportation projects led the construction boom, including key projects such as the Linyi section of the Weifang-Suqian High-Speed Railway in East China's Shandong Province and the G322 expressway project in East China's Jiangxi Province.

There was also a strong momentum in high-tech investment in the first quarter. East China's Anhui Province launched a project to build a production line for advanced display screens, with investment of 2 billion yuan. East China's Zhejiang Province began constructing a science park for artificial intelligence core components, according to CCTV News.

The number of smaller projects valued below 5 million yuan also grew, with 17,000 projects launched, a 4.8 percent year-on-year increase. These smaller projects, often focusing on improving people's livelihoods, involved a combined investment of nearly 28 billion yuan, up 7.2 percent year-on-year.

Tax authorities have pledged consistent policy support to ensure the completion of projects, in a bid to support livelihood and advance the high-quality development of the broader economy, according to CCTV News. 

These major projects are driving China's economy from both the demand and supply sides, Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

"On the demand side, infrastructure and industrial investments directly stimulate the construction and manufacturing sectors, while creating ripple effects across supply chains. On the supply side, cutting-edge technology projects accelerate industrial upgrading, and livelihood-related projects help unlock new consumption potential," Wang explained.

He added that these projects also generate direct employment and indirectly support the services sector, boosting household incomes and consumer confidence to promote broad-based economic growth.

China's fixed-asset investment rose 4.2 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, 1 percentage point higher than the full-year growth rate of 2024. The investment totaled 10.32 trillion yuan during the period, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Investment in infrastructure construction rose 5.8 percent, while manufacturing investment rose by 9.1 percent, according to data from the NBS.