China pledges to build megaprojects despite pivot to domestic consumption

China will continue to “scientifically” plan and build megaprojects while maintaining its “investment intensity” over the next five years, officials said – even as Beijing seeks to shift to a more consumption-driven growth model.

“To further drive economic development and improve people’s livelihoods, it is essential to maintain a certain scale of investment,” said Li Chunlin, vice-chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country’s top economic planner, at a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday.

“China’s per capita GDP has just crossed the US$13,000 threshold,” he added.

Li’s comments came amid growing market speculation over how Beijing plans to further boost consumption to offset the impact of the tariff war launched by the United States.

Investment used to be a major engine of rapid economic growth – most notably the 4-trillion-yuan (US$558 billion) stimulus package in 2009-2010 that lifted China out of the shock of the global financial crisis. But the approach also triggered a surge in debt, mainly due to unchecked local government borrowing.

Under the 14th Five-Year Plan – China’s best-known blueprint for social and economic development, which covers 2021 to 2025 – the country planned 102 megaprojects including the Sichuan-Tibet railway, the Laos-China Railway and the Pinglu Canal.