Several provinces in the country has launched a series of projects to build new infrastructure. As of March 2020 20 provinces and cities have announced plans to invest charitably in this direction 44 trillion yuan (about 447 trillion rubles) in the framework of key projects on development of regions. And this against the background of growing pressure on the economy, which many local governments and enterprises in China are faced with financial difficulties. Even in such circumstances, enthusiasm for investment in new infrastructure in the country is incredibly high due to the fact that it lies at the Foundation of technological progress. The new infrastructure is a serious driving force for industrial modernization, it creates momentum for economic development high quality.
the Demand for “new infrastructure” has increased dramatically in recent years. At the end of 2018 at the Conference the Chinese government’s Central economic activity was proposed to accelerate the implementation in the commercial sector of the communication standard 5G and technologies such as artificial intelligence, industrial Internet and Internet of things (IoT). At the conference last year stressed the need to intensify the building of strategic and network infrastructure.
“In the past, infrastructure investments were mainly concentrated on Railways, highways and airports. These large-scale, long-term investments had the obvious short-term stimulant effects, – said the Deputy Director of the Institute of natural resources and environment, research centre of the State Council of China Li Czaszyn. – However, the return on investment is relatively slow. New infrastructure associated with the development of high technology and is an important tool of digitalization. In addition, it guarantees the appearance and satisfaction of new requests in the market.”
the Chinese economy today is experiencing tremendous pressure from both internal and external factors, in particular the pandemic. It is impossible to achieve the previous efficiency of investment in the economy, relying on old recipes to stimulate economic activity, the expert believes. New ideas and approaches.
the Chinese economy needs to accelerate the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, expanding emerging industries and create a new impetus for economic development. This is impossible to implement without strong support of Informatization, intellectual services and digitalization. This was another important reason that forced the authorities to accelerate the deployment of new infrastructure.
According to Deputy Director of the economic policy Committee of the Council for political studies of China Xuth Hunza, it is important to not only create, but also the use of new infrastructure. It is able by itself to create and satisfy the demand, and hence stimulate the economy.
In 2020, investment in network standard 5G in China will reach almost 300 billion yuan (3,05 trln roubles), and in the data centers of 100 billion yuan (1 trillion rubles). Another 35 billion yuan (356 billion) will be invested in the development of artificial intelligence. For comparison, investment in Railways will total 500 billion yuan (5 trillion rubles), in line EHV – about 60 billion yuan (611 billion). And this is only the beginning: investments in new infrastructure are gaining momentum, the reserve for their future expansion in the future is huge.
some experts still Express doubts that the new infrastructure could become a strong stimulus to the economy. However, it is worth considering the current state of China’s economy. Today, the total GDP of the country has close to 100 trillion yuan (1 quadrin rubles), domestic demand, particularly consumption of services – the Foundation, stabilizing economic activities in the country has reached its peak. With such a huge total economy is not sufficient to rely solely on investment to stimulate economic growth. China needs to move to sustainable patterns of consumption.
“In recent years, the profitability and efficiency of investment in traditional infrastructure has decreased. A new type of infrastructure based on technological innovations, can create jobs and growth in the short term, says Xu chunzi. – It can also promote structural changes and modernization of production, which will contribute to the healthy development of the economy in the medium and long term. Increased investment in new infrastructure may not only lead to the transformation and development of traditional industries, but also affect their long-term development.”
for Example, a data center is not only an important part of the new infrastructure. The center itself will become the base infrastructure for the development of services, components of the new infrastructure will provide support for the development of the digital economy. “With the development of the digital economy, the deficit data centers in many regions will continue to grow. It is therefore necessary to increase investment in the establishment of such centres,” said Xu chunzi.
the national program “Digital economy” with a budget of 3.5 trillion rubles and fairly ambitious goals were approved in Russia in 2018. The project included an increase to 97% the proportion of households having broadband Internet access, sustainable coating 5G networks in all cities, creating a unified platform of governments services, an increase to 5% share of the Russian Federation in the global volume of rendering of services in storage and processing of data (currently it is 0.9%).
Digital technology has to transform all the priority sectors of economy and social sphere, including health, education, industry, agriculture, construction, municipal economy, transport and energy infrastructure, and financial services. In 2017, the consulting company McKinsey estimated the potential economic effect of digitalization of the Russian economy and felt that by 2025 it could increase GDP by 4.1-8.9 trillion rubles – from 19 to 34% of the total expected growth.
However, these forecasts are not feasible without the construction of new infrastructure. For this purpose, the government programme laid more than 770 billion rubles. So far, however, its implementation stalled. The following year the project budget was adjusted to 1.6 trillion rubles, and some targets have become more modest. In the first three quarters of last year, the level of execution of the Federal budget expenditures on the program amounted to 12.3%. In 2020, funding the development of 5G networks may fall: 1.5 billion rubles from the Federal budget, which had to go to work on clearing the radio spectrum to build the infrastructure of the new generation, is proposed for the implementation of other tasks. Though this year, with the significant changes of recent months in the healthcare sector in Russia has revealed an acute need for telemedicine, the Foundation of which is a reliable and high speed communication technology 5G. As shown by the experience of China, new infrastructure and working on its technology to help physicians less contact with sick people, faster to identify infected, it is more efficient to diagnose and prescribe treatment.
Investment in new infrastructure was a contribution not only to the healthy future of the economy, but in the health of every person in a difficult epidemic situation. And that’s perhaps the strongest argument in favour of speeding up the construction of new infrastructure in Russia.
What is “new infrastructure”:
– communication network of new generation (5G);
centers for processing big data;
artificial intelligence,
intelligent power grid, ultra high voltage;
Commerce and the Internet;
charging stations for electric vehicles;
– high-speed intercity railway network.
