Joint CGI-Sinolytics Report: Monitoring China’s New Infrastructure

New infrastructure has become a hot topic in China's national economic policy agenda to fight the economic impacts of Covid-19. First conceptualized in late 2018, the initiative came to the fore in 2020, and is poised to be a primary growth driver for the Chinese economy, with trillions of CNY of investment expected in the next few years. It can be compared with the Belt and Road Initiative in scope, but is domestically oriented.

Despite its importance, information about new infrastructure is scarce, fragmented, and fast-evolving.

Caixin Global Intelligence and Sinolytics, a leading European research-based consultancy focused on the nexus of business and policy in China, have produced a report diving deep into the initiative’s development, future trends and economic impacts, as well as potential opportunities and risks for investors, equipment and application providers, and policymakers.

New infrastructure will serve as the foundation for China’s next phase of technological development, meant to enable a fourth industrial revolution. Local governments have raced to announce development plans, with nearly every province featuring new infrastructure in their annual work reports. What are they exactly, and how many of them will garner enough funding and materialize? Just months after the initiative's announcement, the market is already crowded, testing investors’ ability to distinguish truly worthwhile investments from duds seeking to ride the wave.

Where are the opportunities and risks for international investors and suppliers? How should companies react and what can they expect from the market? How will the intiative play out on the national and local levels?

*What the report covers

Including data-driven in-depth studies of new infrastructure sectors such as 5G, high-speed rail, ultra-high voltage electric grids, NEV charging stations, and more, this is the first English-language report to cover both the policy development of the initiative and its economic impacts, and the first to bring disparate central and local government plans together into a comprehensive analysis.

*Some of our Findings

- New infrastructure is central to Beijing’s efforts to combat the economic impacts of Covid-19;
- National policy on new infrastructure is fragmented, local governments have led the push so far;
- The initiative plays an important role in accelerating the roll-out of strategic technologies such as 5G, electric vehicles charging and high-speed rail;
- For foreign companies, the initiative presents numerous opportunities, such as investment opportunities, equipment supply and the potential for applications;

If you are interested in receiving a briefing on the new infrastructure initiative from the report authors, or learning more about other research and services from Caixin Global Intelligence or Sinolytics, a leading European research-based consultancy with offices in Berlin, Zurich and Beijing, please contact us at cgi@caixin.com