Recently, the notice on the investment control of projects in 12 provinces has attracted great attention on the Internet.
The notice requires the above-mentioned provinces to strictly control the first new investment projects and re-evaluate the projects that are in progress.
The main reason for this decision is that these provinces have too high debt ratios, local debt risks are too high, and there is an urgent need to resolve the crisis they are facing.
It is reported that more than 1 3 provinces in the country have almost stopped infrastructure projects, which means that infrastructure projects will be greatly reduced in the future.
For those regions that are not included in the priority provinces, while the pressure to compete for projects may be reduced, on the contrary, a decrease in the number of projects will lead to increased horizontal competition.
In order to compete for limited project resources, the relevant technical units will spread to other regions, and the entire engineering industry will become a red ocean.
Therefore, people working in the engineering industry in 2024 need to be well prepared, persevere through the cold winter, and be prepared to fight a long battle.
Although the above notice has not yet been officially issued, China Business News has published an article entitled "Strictly Control the Investment of Urban Rail Transit Projects, and Projects Under Construction Should Be Strictly Reviewed", which mentions the relevant matters in these 12 provinces.
Recently, the notice issued by ** requires these 12 key provinces not to build new urban rail transit and urban (suburban) railway projects in the near future.
According to relevant sources, the total investment in urban rail transit and urban (suburban) railway projects in these provinces has exceeded 50%.
For these projects whose total investment does not exceed 50%, but which have been strictly reviewed and approved by the provincial development and Reform Commission and implemented the continuation funds, the construction can also be continued in principle.
However, for those projects with a total investment of more than 50%, but there are major problems, and for projects with a total investment of less than 30%, the construction should be postponed or suspended.
Therefore, there is no doubt about the authenticity of the said notice.
This is a wake-up call for those who work in the engineering industry to be prepared for tough times.
Looking back at 2023, many companies in the engineering industry have begun to lay off employees and cut salaries, and more projects in the future are expected to be continuation projects.
Approvals for new projects will also become more stringent.
The era of large-scale infrastructure construction in the past can almost be said to be over.
Despite the fact that infrastructure is almost unrivalled in driving investment, and it is easy to generate and demonstrate performance, many places are burdened with high levels of debt.
While infrastructure projects are an important part of people's well-being, high debt ratios also pose risks.
Taking the high-speed rail project as an example, after the 2008 financial crisis, the high-speed rail project began to be built on a large scale, which strongly stimulated economic development.
However, blind construction in some places has led to the problem of overconstruction.
For example, three high-speed rail stations were built in Danzhou, Hainan, and nine in Guilin, Guangxi, many of which had so low ridership that they had to be shut down.
According to public information, by the end of 2022, there were 5,544 high-speed rail stations in the country, including 50 special stations, 236 first-class stations, 353 second-class stations, and 939 third-class stations.
However, less than 30 per cent of sites are effectively utilized, and these figures are worrying.
Blind construction and over-construction have become prominent problems, and we need to return infrastructure to rationality.
While infrastructure can boost economic development, measures such as industrial upgrading, job creation and consumption are also important tools to help us get out of economic predicament.
The engineering industry is facing difficulties, but it also holds limitless opportunities.
We should strengthen innovation and technology leadership, change development ideas, and seek new growth points.
At the same time, supervision and evaluation should also be strengthened to ensure the rationality and sustainability of project investment.
Let's work together to meet the challenges and meet a better future!