SOURCE / ECONOMY
Infrastructure projects advance uninterrupted during May Day holidays
Published: May 03, 2023 10:20 PM
Workers install steel structures on top of a stadium in Ganzhou, East China's Jiangxi Province on May 3, 2023. In 2021, value added output by China's sports-related facilities reached 23.6 billion yuan ($3.41 billion), according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Workers install steel structures on top of a stadium in Ganzhou, East China's Jiangxi Province on May 3, 2023. In 2021, value added output by China's sports-related facilities reached 23.6 billion yuan ($3.41 billion), according to the National Bureau of Statistics.


From a commercial space launch site to tunnels, multiple infrastructure projects were advanced continuously during the May Day holidays as China accelerates infrastructure investment to propel economic growth.

According to a report by China Central Television, China is building its first commercial space launch site in Wenchang, South China's Hainan Province. During the May Day holidays, many employees continued to work, the report noted.

China plans to complete the construction of the space launch site's hardware facilities by the end of 2023 and send up the first rocket in June 2024.

According to the Xinhua News Agency, more than 200 construction employees worked in shifts during the holidays on a tunnel in Qilian Mountain. The goal is to commence operation of the tunnel's right channel in July. 

The construction of a railway connecting Tianshui and Longnan in Northwest China's Gansu Province didn't stop during the holidays. The 215-kilometer-long railway will connect Longhai Railway and Lanyu Railway, the Xinhua report noted.

The report cited a project representative at China Railway 15th Bureau Group Co as saying that they must make sure the project's progress did not slow down as a result of the holidays.

At the construction site of the Chongqing Yusui high-speed railway, about 800 workers from the China Railway 17th Bureau Group Co worked during the holidays. An employee said that they had prepared materials like steel, sandstone and 138 pieces of equipment to make sure that work wasn't uninterrupted by the holidays, the Xinhua report noted.

China doubled down on infrastructure last year to revive the coronavirus-hit economy. As the country optimized coronavirus management measures at the end of last year, multiple sectors have shown signs of recovery, but infrastructure has remained one of the most important engines to propel economic growth when some sectors, like trade, still faced uncertainty. 

In the first quarter, China's infrastructure investment surged 8.8 percent on a yearly basis, driving up total investment by 1.8 percentage points, data released by the National Development and Reform Commission showed.