A worker installs wiring on a silicon-based new material production facility in Zhangye, Northwest China’s Gansu Province on November 15, 2022. Fixed-asset investment grew 6.1 percent year-on-year in the first 10 months of this year in western part of China, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics. Photo: cnsphoto

Multiple Chinese cities and provinces have announced their 2003 economic plans with a focus on expanding investment and implementing major projects, ahead of a key economic meeting of top Chinese policymakers near the end of 2022.

The regional efforts to plan and facilitate the early implementation of major construction projects will ensure a good start for 2023 and steady growth of the overall economy, experts said.

Cities and provinces including East China's Shanghai have held conferences to plan major projects for 2023 with some localities putting forward specific investment plans, the Securities Daily reported on Monday.

The Shanghai municipal government on Friday said it will "make solid plans and arrangements for next year's economic work" and "focus on major projects and promote the development of key areas."

Officials from Northwest China's Shaanxi Province on Thursday said the province would do a solid job of planning next year's projects, and promoting a number of high-quality projects.

Other localities announced specific investment targets. For example, Ordos, in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, plans to implement 465 major projects in 2023 with a planned investment of 160 billion yuan ($23.021 billion). Shenyang in Northeast China's Liaoning Province has planned 3,000 projects for 2023 with a total investment of more than 3 trillion yuan and expects the preliminary procedures of all the projects to be completed by February.

Judging from these new plans, the growth rate of major infrastructure construction investment in 2023 will be higher than in 2022, and the progress of construction projects will be accelerated next year, independent economist Tian Yun told the Global Times on Monday.

"The economic impetus of infrastructure construction will be stronger next year, especially in the first half of next year," Tian said.

In the first three quarters of this year, investment in infrastructure projects grew at a fast pace, playing a key role in stabilizing growth.

China's fixed asset investment expanded by 5.9 percent year-on-year in the first nine months, rising from 5.8 percent in the first eight months, according to official data.

The long upstream and downstream industry chains can promote effective investment, and increase employment, income and consumption, Zhou Maohua, an economist at Everbright Bank, told the Global Times on Monday.

The regional investment plans come ahead of the Central Economic Work Conference which is likely to be held in December, where top Chinese policymakers are set to outline economic priorities for 2023.

It is believed that vigorously developing domestic economy will become the top economic task in 2023, which will be highlighted at the Central Economic Work Conference. Infrastructure and manufacturing investment will be the key to stabilizing the economy in 2023, Tao Chuan, an economist with Soochow Securities, said in a research report sent to the Global Times on Monday.

The world's second-largest economy grew by 3.9 percent year-on-year in the third quarter. In the first three quarters, China's GDP grew by 3 percent and reached a total of 87 trillion yuan.

It is expected that China will set the annual growth target for 2023 at around 5 percent, which is achievable based on the low base in 2022 and policy optimization involving the property sector and anti-pandemic measures, Tao said in the report.

To play a bigger role in stabilizing the economy, additional fiscal instruments, such as special-purpose government bonds, may be needed, the report said.

Zhou from Everbright Bank also expects economic growth in 2023 to be significantly higher than this year.

"The implementation of policies and measures to expand domestic demand, stabilize prices, ensure people's livelihoods and promote reform will all be important topics during the meeting," Zhou said.

Tian said that the government will keep its efforts to restore business activities and logistics flow, which will give a big boost to the recovery, and domestic consumption in 2023.

The property market will also likely bottom out next year, said Tian.