China's top economic planner said on Monday that leading indicators are positive with a year-on-year increase of 12,000 in the number of newly commenced projects in the first quarter of 2022, helping to stabilize growth.

Accordingly, total investment volume for newly commenced projects in China in the first quarter grew by 54.9 percent year-on-year, the National Development and Reform Commission said via its WeChat account on Monday.

It added that out of the country's planned issuance of the 3.65 trillion yuan ($560 billion) in special-purpose bonds earmarked for local government in 2022, the full quota for project construction had all been issued as of Monday.

Together with the 1.2 trillion-yuan worth of bonds already issued in the last quarter of 2021, newly launched projects have ample funding support.

The NDRC also confirmed that work was progressing as scheduled in pushing forward 102 mega projects earmarked for the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), as part of a front-loaded infrastructure investment plan to boost economic activity.

Facing continued COVID-19 flare-ups, supply chain snags and external uncertainty arising from the Russia-Ukraine conflict,China's GDP grew 4.8 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2022.

Investment remained a highlight with growth in fixed-asset investment rising by 9.3 percent over the first three months of the year, with investment in infrastructure increasing by 8.5 percent year-on-year.

Global Times