To counter China’s rapidly slowing economic growth, the Chinese government has returned to the policy playbook that worked well in the past: spending money on large infrastructure projects.
Also Read: Top ongoing mega projects in Egypt
The following are the top ongoing mega projects in China
1. South-North Water Transfer Project, China
The South-North Water Transfer/Diversion Project is an over US$ 79bn multi-decade infrastructure mega-project in China.
The project’s objective is to divert approximately 44.8 billion cubic meters of fresh water annually from four rivers in the Southern region of the country. The rivers are the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, the Huaihe River, and the Haihe River.
The water will be delivered to the more arid and industrialized northern region through three diversion routes which are the Eastern, Central and Western routes. The diversions cut across the eastern, central and western parts of the Asian country.
The construction of the Eastern route is complete while that of the Central and Western routes is ongoing.
2. Chengdu Metro
This is the rapid transit system of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, China. The system has been under construction since 2005. As it stands, its first, second and third phases have already been completed.
There are 12 subways covering a total distance of 518.5 kilometres operating currently. The lines include a total of 337 stations. Also operational is a 39.3 kilometres light rail line (Line T2) with 36 stopovers.
Phases 4 and five of the Chengdu Metro, which is currently the 4th longest metro system in the world, are under construction. Upon completion, Phase 4 of the project will add a total of 176.65 kilometres of new lines while the 5th phase will bring 199.8 kilometres. Upon completion, Chengdu Metro could thus become the longest metro system in the world overtaking 803 kilometre Shanghai Metro.
3. Chongqing–Kunming high-speed railway
This is a high-speed railway system that is being constructed to connect Chongqing West to Kunming South. The system will be 699 kilometres long and it will have a maximum speed of 350 kilometres per hour. Journey times from Kunming to Chengdu and Chongqing are thus expected to be around two hours.
The construction of the entire project is expected to cost close to US $20 billion.
4. Intercity Railway along the Yangtze River in Jiangsu province US $34.35bn
Eight regional intercity railways will be built in a metropolitan cluster along the Yangtze River in Jiangsu Province, a move to shorten commuting time from Nanjing, the capital city of Jiangsu province, to other districts and cities within the province.
Some of the lines will also connect Nanjing to municipalities in the neighbouring Anhui Province. Construction of the intercity lines is estimated to run until 2025.
5. Intercity Rail Network in Eastern Guangdong US $14.86bn
The intercity rail network in eastern Guangdong province will facilitate connections between the cities of Shantou, Shanwei, Chaozhou, and Jieyang. Construction on three rail lines totalling 320km started construction in 2018, with work on four others totalling 140km will start “at the right time”, according to the NDRC.
Seven urban rail transit lines, including the extension of three existing lines and four new lines, are due to be constructed in Changchun from 2019 to 2024.
Chinese are becoming very good at Guitar manufacturing.