New | Xi Jinping’s dream city Xiongan may turn out to be China’s biggest public works project, ever
The ambitious project will count as the largest infrastructure project in the history of modern China, according to estimates.
Xiongan New Area, the Chinese president’s ambitious plan to remake a backwater into a dream city, could lure as much as 2.4 trillion yuan (US$348 billion) of investments over the next decade, adding as much as 0.4 percentage point to China’s economic growth every year, according to a projection by Morgan Stanley.
The new city, designed as a salve to ease Beijing’s notorious overcrowding, air pollution and congested traffic, will redirect up to 6.7 million people to the 100 square kilometre area, eventually expanding the area’s size 20-fold over a decade.
That could potentially make it the largest ever infrastructure project in the history of modern China.
State-backed institutions and companies are likely to be the biggest winners out of the mega project, as they are in the best position to get the lion’s share of construction works and services, analysts said.
“Xiongan will be developed under the government’s plan by tapping the country’s own resources and strength,” said Zhang Zhiqian, deputy head of China Jianyin Investment’s research institute, in an interview with the South China Morning Post. “In terms of investment opportunities, it’s important to follow the government’s blueprint so as to comply with the policy directions.”
The Chinese central bank has already put its weight behind the project, as it organised a weekend seminar to direct the country’s financial institutions to extend credits toward projects associated with the project.