China ‘must’ up spend as GDP growth wanes

Increased infrastructure investment is key to stabilising China’s economic growth, a top state adviser said yesterday, while calling on the country’s central bank to lower the cost of financing for companies and increase overall credit.

“Keeping relatively high growth of infrastructure investment is key to stabilising economic growth” since property and manufacturing investment remains weak, said Yu Bin, head of the micro economy research department at the State Council’s Development Research Centre.

China needs to speed up its 172 hydropower projects, develop 53m hectares of high-standard agricultural land and increase investment in rural roads, Yu said.