When state firms try to give reality a utopian touch

Over the past few years, State Grid has been striving to provide stable power supply amid extreme weather and natural disasters, bringing benefits to China's agriculture, farmers and rural areas, as well as safeguarding the country's food security.

The Central Rural Work Conference in December recorded that China had overcome the adverse effect of some severe natural disasters in 2023, with food production hitting record highs and farmers'incomes growing at a faster pace -a glowing testimony to SOEs' contributions.

Central authorities doubled down on the ongoing infrastructure push to ensure the nation developed adequate capabilities to protect itself from natural phenomena.

In October, the nation's top legislature had approved the central government's plan to issue an additional 1 trillion yuan ($136.93 billion) in special treasury bonds in the fourth quarter of last year. All of it was allocated to local governments through transfer payment for supporting post-disaster recovery and reconstruction, strengthening weak areas in disaster prevention and relief, and improving the overall ability to withstand natural disasters.

Infrastructure construction now plays a significant role in boosting the nation's economy. Most central SOEs in infrastructure construction boast impressive credentials, both at home and abroad, as they have accumulated decades of experience with projects not only across China but in the rest of the world.

For instance, China's numerous SOEs were instrumental in the construction of mega projects like the Jakarta-Bandung High-speed Railway in Indonesia and the main 2022 FIFA World Cup venue in Doha, Qatar, which were both built under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative.

China Railway Construction Corp, which participated in the Jakarta-Bandung project, is going the whole hog to facilitate integrated development in the Yangtze River Delta Region by connecting more cities with the nation's HSR network.

The railway giant said in a construction report in January that laying work of the ballast-free track structure for the Hangzhou-Wenzhou High-speed Railway has been completed, marking another significant step toward the goal of scheduled completion of the entire project.