, Columnist
Grab a Shovel, China’s Ready to Build Again
The government wants private money to get involved. That may be optimistic.
More like this coming soon.
Photographer: China Photos/Getty Images
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Build, baby, build. Infrastructure spending in China is heating up again. But this time, the government wants help.
Beijing entered the year with a tough stance on debt, tightening its purse strings to head off the risk of a Minsky moment. The Ministry of Finance lowered its fiscal deficit target to 2.6 percent of gross domestic product, the first cut since 2013, and went so far as to halt all government-funded work in Xinjiang, an area bigger than France. As a result, infrastructure growth ground to a halt, dragging on the economy’s expansion.