Posted on 10 Feb 2022
A total of 30 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in China except Tianjin have been holding their Two Sessions ahead of the top-level Two Sessions in Beijing in early March to draft their local economic development plans for 2022 and 21 have shared their targets at 6% or higher for their local gross domestic product (GDP) growths, according to a February 8 report by Economic Information Daily, a publication of Xinhua News Agency.
Among the 21, Hainan and Tibet are aiming at a 9% and 8% GDP growth respectively, and Anhui and Jiangxi both at above 7%, the reported stated, while none of the top three steelmaking provinces including Hebei, Jiangsu and Shandong were mentioned, Mysteel Global noted.
Aligning with Beijing's general guidelines, these local authorities will focus on domestic consumption, industrial development and restructuring, optimization, technologies and innovation in related economic sectors for their local economic development this year, and many pledged to realize the growth in local industrial added-value in 2022.
As for domestic consumption, investment will be a crucial element, and Anhui in central China, for example, plans to launch more than 2,600 projects each with a minimum investment of Yuan 100 million ($15.7 million), and Henan, also in central China, disclosed its fixed asset investment for 2022 to be around Yuan 2.8 trillion in total, both being higher than 2021, according to the report.
Many Chinese provinces also mentioned their plans to promote new-energy vehicle sales and home appliances sales via trade-ins as part of boosting domestic consumption, as well as upgrading and decarbonization in its local industry, all in line with Beijing's focuses for 2022.
Beijing has yet specified a national GDP growth for 2022, which will probably be released in March when the top "Two Sessions" are concluded, but it is clear that at least for the first quarter, it will heavily focus on fixed asset investment, already calling for the local authorities to bring forward some of the fixed asset investments and the launch of some new infrastructure construction projects, as reported.
China scored an 8.1% growth in its GDP in 2021, or much higher than its minimum target at 6% for last year.
Source:Mysteel Global
