An aerial view of the construction site of the east ring highway in Fuzhou, Jiangxi province. [Photo/China Daily]
Supported by the nation's efforts to shore up economic growth amid headwinds and upgrade infrastructure, State-owned builders are going full throttle on key infrastructure projects nationwide.
China Railway 24th Bureau Group Corp Ltd (CR24), a unit of China Railway Construction Corp, is leveraging its edge in infrastructure to help improve connections between inland and coastal cities.
The SOE said its builders working on the Hefei-Xinyi High-speed Railway have completed the installation of the first box girder on pillars of a rail bridge despite many challenges, laying a solid foundation for the construction of the railway's Anhui section.
Before CR24 builders managed to move the 790.3-metric-ton box girder onto the cap beams, they were faced with a series of complicated preparation tasks, such as a tight schedule for girder building, transportation and additional arrangement work for neighboring networks, the construction team told China Daily.
"After conducting research of the construction feasibility, the project team made plans for each minor building process and arranged experts to carry out oversight of the project building to guarantee safe construction and operation," said the project manager with CR24, who declined to be named.
"The success of settling the first box girder is encouraging as it is a valuable experience to be followed in the remaining construction work of the Hefei-Xinyi High-speed Railway, where many sections on the railway are facing the same conditions," said the project manager.
With a total length of 324 kilometers and a designated speed of 350 kilometers per hour, the Hefei-Xinyi High-speed Railway connects five counties and two cities in Anhui and Jiangsu provinces and aims to further facilitate trips between inland and coastal areas.
It is a rail line of great significance for the development of cities in the Huaihe Ecological Economic Belt, establishing better links between regions along the line and those in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, CR24 said.
Amid disruptions brought by global uncertainties and COVID-19 headwinds, authorities reiterated efforts in infrastructure investment to bolster support for economic recovery.
The People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, said in a statement earlier last week that it will give full play to the function of monetary and credit policy tools to deliver strong support for the recovery and expansion of consumption, key infrastructure and the construction of major projects in line with national development plans.
"Looking ahead, with stability the main focus of next year's policy, China will continue to increase support for the infrastructure sector which is beneficial not only to expanding the vitality and creativity of the enterprise sector but also to boosting residential incomes," said Chen Li, chief economist at Chuancai Securities.
In return, driven by the current policy of stabilizing growth, the infrastructure sector will enjoy further development, contributing to the steady and healthy growth of the Chinese economy, Chen said.
