Xiangzhou District, Zhuhai

Eight billion yuan ($1.15 billion) will be invested in 83 projects to bolster areas weak in transportation infrastructure and people's livelihood, according to a plan detailed at the 1st Session of the 9th Zhuhai Municipal People's Congress.

The Report on Implementation of Zhuhai Government Investment Projects Plan for 2016 & Draft Plan for 2017 was given by Yu Sihao, director-general of the Development & Reform Bureau. Facing a possible economic slowdown, the city government will invest more in industrial development, transport, and urban construction, in order to increase GDP by 8.5 percent and investment in fixed assets by 15 percent. 

According to the report, transport infrastructure construction will account for more than a half of the government’s investment, with 23 projects costing 4.85 billion yuan ($697 million) accounting for 64.5 percent of the total. Twenty-one urban infrastructure projects will take up 11.9 percent or 896 million yuan ($129 million). Meanwhile, four public education projects will cost 465 million yuan ($67 million), accounting for 6.2 percent.

Urban development will be boosted. [File photo]

In the plan, 6.3 billion yuan ($912 million) will be used on the industrial layout, transportation infrastructure, and urban development. 

For transportation infrastructures, the government plans to invest 5 billion yuan ($718.5 million) in some key transport infrastructure construction projects, such as the Honghe Bridge, Hezhou-Gaolan Expressway, and Xianghai Bridge. Urban traffic management will also be strengthened to speed up Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and comprehensively improve public transit in the eastern urban areas, according to the report.

And 50 projects to improve people's livelihood costing 1.3 billion yuan ($187 million) and four preliminary projects to upgrade the downtown area are also on the agenda, with an investment of 2 million yuan ($287,400). Projects include new facilities for the Zhuhai Maternal & Child Health Hospital, Zhuhai Center for Chronic Disease Prevention & Treatment, waste treatment at the Xikengwei Landfill, and the expansion of the campus of Zhuhai Vocational Technical School.

In a national push for supply-side structural reform, 5.35 billion yuan ($769 million) in the 8-billion-yuan investment plan will be allocated for 68 projects to eliminate the weak areas involved.

Thirteen projects that received great attention such as west-east fast public transit facilities will get municipal financial support of 2.1 billion yuan ($301.8 million) in 2017.