RTR1P0DW.jpg (Photo : Reuters)
The National Development and Reform Commission announced on Wednesday its approval of feasibility reports on five airport and three railway projects amounting to 150 billion yuan ($24.4 billion).
The five airports will be located mostly in the country's western regions, in the provinces of Jilin, Qinghai, Yunnan, Guizhou and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The total investment for the plan is 5.49 billion yuan, according to statements on commission's website.
Meanwhile, the three railway projects are worth 144.52 billion yuan, making up most of the planned investment, the commission said.
These projects are part of the government's efforts to address a disparity in the economic developments among the country's regions. They will serve to boost infrastructure investment in the country's less developed central and western regions, according to Xinhua.
Another such effort by the government was the upgrade of its railway construction, in line with the plan to raise fixed-asset investment to 800 billion yuan earlier this year. Through this move, 7,000 kilometers of new railways began their operation and 64 more new railways projects have been started.
China's urban fixed-asset investment increased by only 16.1 percent year-on-year to 35.78 trillion yuan in the first nine months, according to data released on Tuesday. This was largely due to a current downturn in the real-estate market, which has affected the economy at large.
