With the acceleration of infrastructure investment, the capital side has also increased its efforts. The industry predicts that the scale of special bond issuance in the second quarter of 2022 may exceed 2 trillion yuan, of which the monthly issuance scale in May and June may be close to one trillion yuan, which will provide greater support for infrastructure investment. At the same time, with the support of policies, urban investment platform financing is expected to pick up, and the growth rate of bank loans invested in infrastructure is expected to accelerate significantly. Experts said that the next step is to continuously expand the long-term financing channels for infrastructure, and guide insurance funds and pension funds to increase investment; at the same time, increase the guarantee of resources such as land, energy conservation and environmental protection, and promote the smooth implementation of infrastructure projects.

The issuance of special bonds will reach a peak

Special bonds are an important tool for the government to stimulate investment. At present, infrastructure construction is continuously increasing, and the industry expects that there will be a round of special bond issuance peaks in May and June.

In the context of stable growth, the issuance and use of special bonds in 2022 will start early and move quickly. Xu Hongcai, Vice Minister of Finance, revealed in an interview with reporters that as of April 25, the provinces had issued a total of about 1.3 trillion yuan of special bonds, accounting for 89% of the quota issued in advance, an increase of about 1.17 trillion yuan compared with the same period in 2021. .

The investment is tilted towards the field of infrastructure. According to the calculation of Industrial Securities Fixed Income, from January to April 2022, 70.1% of the project income special bonds will be invested in the infrastructure sector, which is an increase from the same period in 2021 (accounting for 66.1%).

"Compared with the same period in 2021, the scale of new special bonds issued in 2022 will almost double that in 2021. Even if infrastructure investment is moderately advanced, the source of funds for major investment projects is still guaranteed." China International Futures Co., Ltd. Tang Linmin, a senior researcher of the company, told a reporter from Jiandao.com. He said that whether it is from the overall progress of issuance or from the recent emphasis on infrastructure construction, it is necessary to continue to accelerate the issuance of special bonds.

According to the economic situation held on April 11, the symposium of the main responsible persons of some local governments, the issuance and use of special bonds and other policies will be implemented in the first half of the year, resulting in more physical workload. Xu Hongcai said that it is expected that the issuance of most of the new special bonds will be completed in the second quarter, and the finalization will be completed in the third quarter.

According to the forecast of China Chengxin International, the total amount of new special bonds will remain 2.35 trillion yuan in 2022, and the remaining 160 billion yuan will be approved in advance. Most of the new issuance of special bonds will be completed before the end of the month. It is expected that the issuance of special bonds in the second quarter may exceed 2 trillion yuan, of which the monthly issuance size in May and June may be close to one trillion yuan.

Multi-channel funds "increase salary" infrastructure investment

Leveraged by financial funds, multi-channel social capital has also stepped up efforts to participate in infrastructure construction and operation, and further expand infrastructure funding channels.

On May 13, the government-private partnership (PPP) project of G1816 Wuhai-Maqin Expressway Cooperation to Saierlong (Ganqingjie) section started in Luqu County, Gannan Prefecture. It is reported that the project adopts the PPP model of "packaging" between national expressways and ordinary roads, with a total investment of 16.959 billion yuan.

As an important way for social capital to participate in infrastructure investment and operation, the PPP model is accelerating its promotion and application. In the first quarter of 2022, 123 new projects were entered into the national PPP comprehensive information platform management database, with an investment of 250.6 billion yuan. Among them, "two new and one heavy" projects were 93 new projects in the first quarter, with an investment of 194 billion yuan.

"The 11th meeting of the Central Finance and Economics Committee clearly stated that it is necessary to promote the standardized development and sunshine operation of the cooperation model between the government and social capital, and guide social capital to participate in the investment and operation of municipal facilities." Wang Qing, chief macro analyst of Dongfang Jincheng, told a reporter from Seedao.com Said that the meeting has made plans for the incremental capital guarantee for future infrastructure investment from the perspective of top-level design, and will also directly promote the participation of social capital in infrastructure investment.

Financial support for infrastructure has also continued to increase. Recently, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission held a meeting to express its support for the key role of effective investment, and to ensure the financing of key areas and major projects in the "14th Five-Year Plan". The People's Bank of China also issued a document to support local governments to appropriately advance infrastructure investment, and ensure the reasonable financing needs of financing platform companies in compliance with laws and regulations.

According to the "Statistical Report on Loan Investment of Financial Institutions in the First Quarter of 2022" released by the People's Bank of China, at the end of the first quarter of 2022, the balance of medium and long-term loans in local and foreign currency infrastructure was 30.26 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.2%, and the growth rate was 2.2% higher than that of various loans. percent. "It is expected that the growth rate of bank loans invested in the infrastructure sector is expected to accelerate significantly." Wang Qing said.

Continue to expand long-term funding channels

Experts said that in the next step, it is necessary to continue to expand the long-term funding channels for infrastructure construction; at the same time, all aspects "step together" to allocate land, energy conservation, environmental protection and other resource elements to promote the smooth implementation of infrastructure projects.

According to Tan Zhiguo, deputy general manager of China Investment Consulting Co., Ltd., targeted and easy-to-implement project investment and financing solutions can be designed for different infrastructure projects. For public welfare projects, it mainly relies on financial funds and special government bonds; for quasi-public welfare projects and operational projects, it is necessary to ask for more funds from the market, and actively apply for funds from open policy financial institutions.

Wang Qing pointed out that bank loans will be the main source of medium and long-term funding for infrastructure investment at present and in the future. It can be considered through the adjustment of macro prudential assessment (MPA) assessment indicators to encourage banks to increase their investment in medium and long-term loans in the field of infrastructure; accelerate the pilot project of real estate investment trusts (REITs) for infrastructure, and drive growth by revitalizing the stock; guide insurance funds , pension funds and other long-term funds to increase investment in infrastructure, and consider introducing some customized preferential policies. Keywords: infrastructure, infrastructure construction, domestic engineering news, planning and investment

"In 2022, relevant parties will make efforts in project reserve, application, and approval in advance, and investments such as special bonds will also be arranged in advance. Generally speaking, capital and project reserves in expanding effective investment are relatively optimistic." said Wu Yaping, a researcher at the Investment Institute of China Academy of Macroeconomics. , the construction of infrastructure projects is a systematic project, and it is necessary to "step in step" in all aspects, to allocate resources such as land, energy conservation, environmental protection, etc., and to implement construction conditions such as water supply, power supply, and municipal roads. It is necessary for each region to establish a departmental coordination mechanism to promote departmental information sharing in order to allocate resource elements faster and better. Editor / Xu Shengpeng