China transport investment

In China, the news that the construction industry has been waiting for came with an announcement over infrastructure spending.

The Chinese Government said it will invest heavily in infrastructure spending over the next few years, some US$157 billion, particularly in extending the country’s high speed rail network. Some $4.45 billion will be invested in transport infrastructure in 2012. Of the total, $790 million will go on rural road improvements, of which 88% will be used in the central and western regions of the country.

The news brought a flurry of trading on the Chinese stock market, seeing share price gains for various major Chinese construction equipment manufacturers including 269 LiuGong, 1170 Sany and 1171 Shantui. New machine sales have been hit hard since the beginning of 2012. But this development looks likely to give the country’s construction sector the boost it requires, allowing contractors to order new equipment and also helping manufacturers to sell off unsold stock.

Work has begun on constructing a $ 1.2 billion 144km highway between Zhengzhou and Zhoukou in China. The highway has a designed speed of 120km/hour and a width of 28m. And Chinese contractor 6590 China Railway Construction Corporation Limited (CRCC) is now working on two huge highway projects worth over $417 million in total. One of the projects involves work to an existing route in Sichuan Province. This will see the Hongxing road south in Chengdu City being extended. At Suzhou City in Jiangsu Province, CRCC will work on the south central expressway project. Both highway projects will help boost connectivity and trade.

China's Xinjiang region, the G30 Sailimu Lake-Wusu highway renovation and the Kashgar-Aksu highway construction projects have been approved by the regional authority. The 301km Sailimu Lake-Wusu highway renovation is scheduled for completion by the end of October 2013, following an investment of $631 million.

The 429.5km Kashgar-Aksu highway will cost $1.94 billion, with work on it due to finish in 2015. 2661 China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) is to build the second road bridge in Hengqing, China. A total of $385.32 million has been
budgeted for the two year build. On completion, the bridge will span 6.6km.