Five Things to Know About Chinese Policy Banks’ Latest $45 Billion Infrastructure Stimulus

The Chinese government has once again leveraged its policy banks to aid its “all-out” infrastructure investment drive, in hopes of rescuing a struggling economy in the last six months of the year.

With China recording the weakest quarterly GDP growth in the second quarter since the Covid-19 pandemic first gripped the country in early 2020, achieving the annual growth target of around 5.5% has become ever more challenging. Policymakers are pinning their hopes on infrastructure investment to boost domestic demand as tough “zero-Covid” measures in the first half of the year have weakened consumption and slowed exports.