21st Century Business Herald:

I am interested in investment. How would you assess investment performance in January and February? What were the highlights? Thank you.

Fu Linghui:

Thank you for your questions. As I noted earlier, there have been positive developments in investment since the start of this year. Due to multiple factors, fixed-asset investment declined year on year throughout 2025. Since the start of this year, a series of policy measures to expand effective investment have driven investment growth from negative to positive. In particular, investment in key areas has grown rapidly, helping to optimize the supply structure and expand market demand. In the first two months, fixed-asset investment rose 1.8% year on year. The main characteristics are as follows:

First, investment growth in key areas has accelerated. This year marks the beginning of the 15th Five-Year Plan period. A number of major infrastructure projects have broken ground, spurring relatively rapid growth in related investment. In January and February, infrastructure investment grew 11.4% year on year, 10.8 percentage points faster than the whole of last year, contributing 3 percentage points to overall investment growth. Meanwhile, the pace of large-scale project construction has accelerated, with investment in projects with a planned total investment of 100 million yuan or more growing 5% year on year in January-February. Fueled by industrial upgrading and development, the growing demand for the transformation of traditional industries and the growth of emerging industries has driven a rebound in manufacturing investment. In the first two months, manufacturing investment grew 3.1% year on year, 2.5 percentage points faster than the whole of last year.

Second, investment in new growth drivers has shown strong momentum. Across different regions, new quality productive forces are being developed in line with local conditions, with sci-tech innovation deeply integrated with industrial innovation. This has driven rapid growth in investment tied to new growth drivers. In the first two months, investment in high-tech industries grew 5.1% year on year, with investment in aerospace equipment manufacturing rising 20.2% and investment in information services climbing 16.5%. Thanks to improving industrial technological capabilities, high-end equipment manufacturing has performed well, with investment growing at a relatively rapid pace. In January-February, investment in the manufacturing of railway, ship, aerospace and other transportation equipment grew 31.1%. China's green energy transition is advancing steadily, with installed capacity of wind power, photovoltaic and other new energy sources rising steadily, and related investment continuing to grow. In January-February, investment in the production and supply of electricity and heat grew 13.1%.

Third, the effects of policies to expand effective investment have yielded results. Since the start of this year, regions and various departments have steadily stepped up efforts to implement major national strategies and enhance security capacity in key areas , continued to support large-scale equipment upgrades, and increased funding support for projects, thereby boosting investment growth. In January-February, state-controlled investment grew 7.7% year on year, significantly faster than the full-year rate of last year. Meanwhile, investment in equipment and tools purchases grew 11.5% year on year. At the same time, policies and measures to promote private investment were actively implemented, helping boost its vitality. In January-February, private investment in infrastructure grew 9% year on year. These figures clearly show that government investment has played a clear role in guiding and stimulating private investment.

While acknowledging these positive developments, it should also be noted that the international environment remains complex and challenging, and factors such as ongoing adjustments in the domestic real estate market and weak corporate profitability continue to weigh on investment growth. In response, this year's government work report calls for fully unleashing the potential of effective investment. By allocating central budget investment, issuing ultra-long-term special treasury bonds, and rolling out new policy-based financial instruments, efforts will be made to strengthen market-driven, effective investment momentum and invigorate private investment. Looking ahead, we will implement the guiding principles of the Central Conference on Economic Work and the "two sessions." With a focus on key areas such as the development of new quality productive forces, new urbanization, and the comprehensive development of people, we will combine "investment in things" with "investment in people" to better drive economic development and improve people's livelihoods. Thank you.