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China's public projects facing $45B in delayed investments, Beijing says

Construction had yet to begin on seven planned highways, and China’s top three wireless carriers are waiting for funds to build a new data center.

By Elizabeth Shim
A man in Beijing walks past a sign seeking to attract investors on a new construction project on Aug. 24. Earlier this year, Beijing had committed an investment of $126 billion to meet its target growth rate of 7 percent, but a lack of enforcement at the local level has led to delays in funds distribution. File Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI
A man in Beijing walks past a sign seeking to attract investors on a new construction project on Aug. 24. Earlier this year, Beijing had committed an investment of $126 billion to meet its target growth rate of 7 percent, but a lack of enforcement at the local level has led to delays in funds distribution. File Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

HONG KONG, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- China's slowing economy has led to $45 billion in delayed investments in the country's infrastructure, but all is not "doom and gloom," according to the International Monetary Fund.

Beijing's National Audit Office said 193 of 815 state-sponsored projects across 29 provinces and supervised by seven state-owned enterprises were not getting the funds they need, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported. The delayed projects are waiting on $45 billion in investments.

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The projects include railways and highways, utilities and telecommunication infrastructure, according to Chinese press. Of 333 railway projects, 99 had reached 50 percent of the investment target, and 20 had fulfilled 10 percent of funding goals.

In four of the provinces mentioned in China's audit report, by August construction had yet to begin on seven planned motorways, and China's top three carriers -- China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom -- had not met their benchmarks in the construction of a new data center.

Earlier this year, Beijing had committed an investment of $126 billion to meet its target growth rate of 7 percent, but a lack of enforcement at the local level led to the delay in funds distribution, according to Yonhap.

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The IMF, however, said China's slowing economy should not be a source of alarm, the BBC reported Friday.

"I would say that it's a recovery that is decelerating a bit," said IMF chief Christine Lagarde. "We are seeing massive transitions at the moment."

The IMF forecast growth of 6.8 percent for China, and said China is transitioning from one growth model to another.

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