China is expected to intensify its efforts for infrastructure upgrades at a faster pace nationwide, experts said, adding that infrastructure investment will play a critical role in sustaining its economic growth amid external uncertainties and boosting domestic demand for the rest of the year.

Wang Qing, chief macro analyst at Golden Credit Rating, told Jiemian, a news outlet, that infrastructure investment is likely to accelerate in the rest of the year. As the impact of tariff woes intensifies and external demand weakens, exports may experience a downtrend in the fourth quarter.

This will increase reliance on infrastructure investment as a macroeconomic stabilizer. Wang highlighted that the accelerated rollout of the 500 billion yuan ($70.2 billion) new policy-based financial tool at the end of September signals a clear policy intention in this direction.

State builders are ramping up efforts on critical infrastructure projects. For example, Fuzhou, Jiangxi province, embraced a new conduit supporting its link to the Nanchang city cluster — Dongxiang-Linchuan Ring Expressway, which its builder said is expected to inject impetus into the region’s Yangtze River economic belt.

According to its builder China Railway 24th Bureau Group Corp, a unit of centrally administered State-owned builder China Railway Construction Corp, the expressway was fully opened on Oct 16, marking the completion of the 40.76-kilometer transportation project that connects Dongxiang district, Jinxi county and Donglin district with the national expressway network. It aims to boost regional integrated development, with a design speed of 100 kilometers per hour.

According to the latest data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, infrastructure investment in China rose by 1.1 percent year-on-year in the first three quarters of this year. Private investment in infrastructure grew 7 percent, accounting for 20 percent of total infrastructure investment, up 1.1 percentage points from a year earlier.