21st Century Business Herald:

My question is about investment. What achievements and progress has China made in the field of investment in the past 10 years? In recent years, China's investment growth rate has shown a downward trend. Where is the further investment space in China? Thanks.

Yang Yinkai:

Thank you for your questions. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, we have fully implemented the decisions and plans of the Party Central Committee and the State Council to proactively expand effective investment, deepen institutional reform in investment and financing, promote private investment, and fully leverage the key role of investment. The steady growth of fixed asset investment has played an important role in the sustained and healthy development of the economy. We have achieved four remarkable results.

First, the scale of investment has grown steadily, and the investment structure has been improved. Accumulative investment in fixed assets in the country totaled 409 trillion yuan from 2013 to 2021, with an average annual growth rate of 7.8%. Over the past 10 years, the investment structure has been continuously optimized. For example, the growth rate of investment in the tertiary industry is faster than the growth rate of overall investment. The investment in the tertiary industry grew at an annual average rate of 8.9% between 2013 and 2021. The share of investment in the tertiary industry grew from 61.7% in 2012 to 66.6% in 2021. In addition, investment in new growth drivers showed bright spots, with investment in high-tech industries growing at an annual average rate of 15%. Also, investment in the social sector has been growing rapidly, with a double-digit growth rate in recent years.

Second, the construction of key areas has achieved remarkable progress, and a number of major projects have been successfully implemented. New infrastructure and new urbanization initiatives and major projects have been accelerated. The construction of new infrastructure, covering fields like 5G and data centers, has been sped up. The construction in the fields of water conservation, railway and energy has been enhanced. We have strengthened the building of weak areas and weak links. The central government invested to increase the area of high-standard cropland by 900 million mu (60 million hectares), providing a solid foundation for ensuring national food security. Investment in fields such as education, medical care, government-subsidized housing, and ecological conservation grew rapidly. Major projects such as the Beijing Daxing International Airport, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, and the Beijing-Xiongan intercity railway were completed smoothly, and the Sichuan-Tibet Railway and the Baihetan hydropower station have made smooth progress.

Third, the reform of the investment and financing system continued to deepen, and the level of investment and development facilitation was significantly improved. Administrative regulations such as the regulations on government investment and the regulations for managing the approval and recording of business-invested projects have been issued, and the investment management system has been improving. The Party Central Committee and the State Council issued the guidelines on deepening reform of the investment and financing systems, revised the catalog of investment projects requiring government review three times, substantially canceled and delegated approval items, and established a new approval and notification filing system for business-invested projects. An online investment approval and supervision platform connecting 62 State Council departments and covering the national, provincial, city and county levels has been built, facilitating investment approval through a single portal. Hence, businesses need to make fewer visits to deliver their demands to government departments, and can turn to online channels. The investment approval process has been improved remarkably. 

Fourth, the investment environment for the private sector has been continuously optimized, and investment vitality has been further enhanced. We have continued to deepen and refine specific measures to encourage the sustainable and healthy development of the private investment. The State Council has issued a series of policies and measures to promote social investment, stimulate private investment, and put idle assets to use. Over the past 10 years, China's private investment has grown steadily, making great contributions to economic and social development. Since 2012, the proportion of private investment in China's total investment has remained above 55%, making it the mainstay of investment growth.

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that it is necessary to actively expand effective investment and give full play to the key role of investment in improving the supply structure. In the next step, we will conscientiously implement the important instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping, focus on three areas, and actively expand effective investment. First, we will comprehensively strengthen infrastructure construction. We will accelerate the construction of new infrastructure, improve traditional infrastructure, and make a proactive infrastructure layout conducive to leading industrial development and urbanization as appropriate. Second, we will expand investment in manufacturing and high-tech industries. We will increase the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries to enhance the core competitiveness of the manufacturing industry. We will strengthen the capacity for innovation, promote breakthroughs in core technologies in key fields, and advance the industrialization of new technologies and products. Third, we will shore up weak links in areas that are important to people's lives. We will strengthen the building of affordable housing projects and supporting infrastructure, accelerate the renovation of aging urban gas pipelines and the construction of drainage facilities, and focus on strengthening construction in the social sector.