China's finance authorities have quickened the fiscal fund allocation in the first quarter of this year to support localities shoring up their weak points and promote local economic development, according to the Ministry of Finance.
The latest data from the Ministry of Finance shows that in the first quarter, expenditures on agriculture, forestry, and water conservancies, which are the focus of additional government bonds, increased by 13.1 percent year on year.
In Fenghuangba Village of Enyang District in Bazhong City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, construction of high-standard farmland is underway, with excavators busy operating in fields.
"Construction in 27 project villages in Enyang, Bazhong is now in full swing. The main part is expected to complete by the end of this June. Once they are done, the grain yield per hectare is expected to increase by about 10 percent," said Li Chuan, deputy director of farmland water conservancy construction and management station in Enyang.
Enyang's high-standard farmland projects cover a total of about 2,666.66 hectares in 2024 with a total investment of approximately 130 million yuan (about 17.94 million U.S. dollars), of which more than 70 percent comes from the additional one trillion yuan of treasury bonds issued at the end of last year.
Similarly, an expressway project in east China's Shandong Province has benefited from the fiscal funds.
The freeway, which has seen 90 percent of its roadbed, bridges and tunnels and more than 80 percent of road surface constructed, is scheduled to open to traffic within the year.
"Relying on the country's strong support for infrastructure investment, our project raised a total of 1.27 billion yuan in capital through special bonds, which attracted social capital investment of 2.4 billion yuan. It has effectively eased the project's funding pressure and ensured its smooth progress," said Man Xinjie, deputy director of the Linzi-Linyi expressway project office under the Shandong Hi-Speed Group.
"This year, we'll concentrate on supporting the construction of projects in key areas such as transportation, energy, and public services, to ensure that government's investment is fully used and generates traction effect. We will strive to provide the fastest access to the funds so that they can be used quickly and achieve practical results." said Chen Wei, director of the government debt management division under the Shandong Provincial Department of Finance.
Most of the funds of China's additional government bonds issued in 2023 have been carried forward for use this year.
The country will also continue to ramp up fiscal efforts to provide strong support for high-quality development in 2024.
A ceiling of 3.9 trillion yuan will be set on new local government special debt, an increase of 100 billion yuan over last year, aiming to help local governments shore up weaknesses in key areas.
Chinese finance authorities quicken fiscal fund allocation to facilitate local development
