China’s economic momentum strengthens as infrastructure activity rises, frontier investment surges

China’s economic development picked up steadily in April, with key indicators pointing to broad-based improvements in infrastructure activity and a sharp move of capital toward advanced technology sectors, according to the data released Sunday by the State Information Center(SIC), a think tank under the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

The data showed that in the investment landscape, the average operating rate of national construction machinery rose by 3.6 percentage points month on month in April.

Port logistics, heavy lifting, and civil construction all recorded rebounds, signaling steady progress in infrastructure construction.

Concrete equipment, as key construction machinery, saw a notable rebound in activity, with its operating rate increasing by around 5 percentage points both year on year and month on month.

“Municipal infrastructure, transport projects, industrial parks, urban renewal — all types of projects are being rolled out across the board. For major projects in various regions, efforts are being made to seize the construction window and accelerate the pace. This also reflects that physical investment in infrastructure, industry, and urban construction is picking up speed, and investment vitality is steadily improving,” said Shen Chunfeng, a big data expert from iRootech, a company that helps businesses achieve intelligent transformation by applying technologies such as industrial intelligence and embodied intelligent robots.

April marks the peak construction season in many regions.

More than 10 provinces and municipalities, including Anhui, Beijing, Ningxia, and Zhejiang, ranked among the top in terms of comprehensive operating rates. “Domestic engineering construction is moving from localized improvement to nationwide pickup. The coverage of projects starting work has expanded greatly, market activity is broadening, and the positive trend in real economy investment and infrastructure construction is further consolidating,” said Shen.

Investment is also moving faster from traditional sectors toward new arenas.

According to fresh data from the SIC, capital investment in frontier areas such as artificial intelligence (AI) and humanoid robots jumped 175.2 percent year on year in April.

The value of winning bids for infrastructure projects in data, computing power, and networks rose 61.7 percent year on year, continuing to activate new drivers of economic growth.

“In April, China saw strong investment momentum in frontier fields. Investment activity in digital infrastructure grew rapidly, and the ability of sectors such as AI to attract capital is notable. This shows that, with coordinated efforts from both the government and the market, investment is concentrating more quickly on new tracks — providing a strong boost to the development of new quality productive forces and steadily strengthening the foundations for high-quality economic development,” said Xing Yuguan, an associate researcher of the Big Data Development Department under the SIC.

Any attempt to falsify the World War II history and to glorify Nazi and collaborators must be resolutely stopped, Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed at a reception marking the Victory Day on Saturday.

According to a transcript posted on the website of the Kremlin, Putin underscored the decisive contribution made by the people of the Soviet Union to the “defeat of Nazism” in his speech addressing the reception.

“We have never divided this great victory into ‘ours’ and ‘theirs.’ That is why we honor the contribution of all soldiers of the anti-Hitler coalition, members of the resistance, partisans and underground fighters,” said Putin, adding that “we will always preserve the memory of our wartime alliance, of our brotherhood in arms.”

“It is important to firmly counter attempts to falsify the events of the Second World War and to glorify Nazis and collaborators. They bear responsibility for the unbearable suffering and deaths of millions of civilians,” Putin said.

He stressed that “it is our duty to prevent” any effort to justify the genocide of Soviet citizens and other atrocities committed by Nazi criminals. “These crimes were unequivocally condemned by the verdict of the Nuremberg Tribunal and have no statute of limitations,” he said. On November 20, 1945, the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and France established an international military tribunal in Nuremberg, Bavaria in southern Germany, to reckon with the heinous crimes committed by Nazi Germany against humanity.