Successfully connected, crossing the sea into the city. On March 15, the Zhanjiang Bay subsea tunnel of the Guangzhou-Zhanjiang high-speed railway was successfully holed through, setting a domestic record for the longest single-head boring distance in subsea high-speed railway shield construction. Once the high-speed railway opens, Guangzhou and the urban area of Zhanjiang will be reachable from each other in 90 minutes.

Building dams in high gorges, skillfully harnessing hydropower. On March 12, the overspeed test of the first unit of the Maerdang Hydropower Station was successfully completed. Located at an altitude of 3,300 meters, this hydropower station will generate more than 7.3 billion kWh of electricity annually after completion, saving about 2.2 million tons of coal each year.

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General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "We must continue to consolidate and strengthen the momentum of economic recovery and improvement, and boost the confidence of the whole society in development. Party members and officials must first of all firm up their confidence and work hard in earnest. We must seize every favorable opportunity, make use of every favorable condition, and act promptly once we are sure, so as to bring out the enthusiasm of all quarters." This year's Government Work Report proposed "actively expanding effective investment" and "focusing support on scientific and technological innovation, new infrastructure, energy conservation, emission reduction and carbon reduction, and strengthening weak areas in the economy and society such as people's livelihood to shore up shortcomings."

Stabilizing investment, promoting development, and strengthening confidence—at present, a number of major engineering projects in various regions are being solidly advanced, injecting sustained momentum into consolidating and strengthening the momentum of economic recovery and improvement.

Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on March 18 show that from January to February this year, infrastructure investment grew by 6.3% year on year, 0.4 percentage points faster than the whole of last year; investment completed in projects with a planned total investment of 100 million yuan or more grew by 12.1% year on year, 2.8 percentage points faster than the whole of last year, showing the obvious driving role of large projects.

Crossing mountains and seas, long bridges spanning the sky

Transportation construction takes the lead as the "vanguard"

On March 16, construction of the Fuchimen road-rail dual-purpose bridge of the Ningbo-Zhoushan Railway officially began, marking the start of construction on all key projects along the entire Ningbo-Zhoushan Railway line.

"The section of the Fuchimen road-rail dual-purpose bridge we are undertaking involves a total investment of 3.3 billion yuan, with 450 million yuan planned to be completed this year, which is expected to drive more than 1,000 people into employment," said Wang Dianwei, manager of the Ningbo-Zhoushan Railway project department of China Railway Construction Bridge Engineering Bureau Group. After the Ningbo-Zhoushan Railway is completed and opened to traffic, Zhoushan City, currently the only city in the Yangtze River Delta region **without railway access, will be incorporated into the national railway network.

When roads are open, all industries prosper. At present, construction of the Harbin-Yichun high-speed railway, Chongqing-Kunming high-speed railway, Chengdu-Dazhou-Wanzhou high-speed railway, and Chengdu-Chongqing middle line high-speed railway is proceeding steadily; construction of the Chengping Expressway, Lihuo Expressway, and Lhasa-Shigatse Expressway is in full swing; the Pinglu Canal and the container terminal project in the Xiaoyangshan North Operation Area of the deep-water port area of Shanghai Yangshan Port are being advanced in an orderly manner, making the national comprehensive three-dimensional transport network more complete.

Seeking oil and gas, chasing wind and sun

Energy projects "shoulder the heavy responsibility"

The jacket has a total height of 338.5 meters and a total weight of 37,000 tons, with steel consumption close to that of the National Stadium "Bird's Nest"…… On March 12, the deep-water jacket "Hai Ji No. 2," independently designed and built by China, was completed, setting multiple Asian records.

According to reports, "Hai Ji No. 2" will be installed offshore in the near future. Once completed, it will serve China's **deep-water oilfield secondary development project, helping a hundred-million-ton-level old deep-water oilfield gain new vitality.

Stable energy, a solid bottom line. State Grid Corporation of China has proposed that the scale of grid investment for the year is expected to exceed 500 billion yuan; China Huaneng has announced that it plans to arrange 150 billion yuan in new energy infrastructure investment for the year…… Energy construction is vigorous and orderly, shoring up the safety bottom line. From January to February this year, investment in key areas of new energy industries such as solar power generation and wind power generation maintained relatively rapid growth, increasing by 46.4% and 17.7% year on year respectively.

Renovating communities, renewing cities

Livelihood projects beautify "new homes"

In Rongchang District, Chongqing, at the construction site of the Chishui River pipe network renovation project, excavators and clearing vehicles shuttle back and forth, and project builders dig trenches and dredge pipelines, accelerating urban renewal and renovation construction.

"The total investment of the project is more than 90 million yuan, and the overall construction progress is currently about 18%," said Liao Qing, director of the engineering technology department of the Chishui River pipe network renovation project department of China Railway No. 4 Engineering Group in Rongchang District. After the project is completed, it will solve problems such as old and damaged pipe networks in the old urban area, combined rainwater and sewage flows, and rainwater accumulation in some areas, effectively improving the water quality conditions of the urban sections of the Chishui River and the Laixi River.

Shoring up shortcomings, benefiting people's livelihood. Implementing renewal projects for dilapidated and old houses in old residential communities, continuously improving the facilities of county-level hospitals, and solidly advancing the renovation and upgrading of aging urban gas pipelines…… A large number of infrastructure projects are being implemented promptly, helping to make life better. From January to February, investment in the electricity and heat production and supply industry and in water conservancy management increased by 32.7% and 13.7% year on year respectively.

Tower cranes stand in clusters, machinery roars

New infrastructure ignites a "new engine" for the economy

"Single lane" transforms into "four lanes"! On March 8, the world's first 400G all-optical inter-provincial backbone network link, independently developed by China Mobile, was officially put into commercial use. As a major artery of the "East Data, West Computing" project, its transmission bandwidth is several times that of the previous generation backbone network. "This commercial use connects the networks of Beijing, Hebei, and Inner Mongolia. By mid-year, high-speed interconnection among the 'East Data, West Computing' hubs will be fully realized," said a relevant person in charge of China Mobile.

Consolidating the foundation, benefiting the long term. As major projects are launched one after another, projects turn from blueprints into reality, and data centers rise one after another, China's computing power network construction has entered the "fast lane," laying a solid "digital foundation" for high-quality economic development.

"Judging from leading indicators, in February the business activity index for the construction industry was 53.5%, continuing to be in the expansion range. Overall, as policies to expand effective investment continue to be implemented and take effect and major projects accelerate, investment is expected to continue to maintain steady growth," said Liu Aihua, director of the Department of Comprehensive Statistics of the National Economy of the National Bureau of Statistics.

Projects are moving, and innovation is heating up. One bustling construction site after another reflects the surging vitality of development and construction.