Ministry of Water Resources: This year, the nation’s water investment has reached a record high

Summary: From December 27th, the Ministry of Water Resources learned that this year, the national water conservancy investment reached a record high, reaching 33,341 billion yuan, of which the central government's water conservancy investment exceeded 100 billion yuan for the first time, and the central government’s water conservancy funds increased by 70.5% year-on-year. The No. 1 document and the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" clearly set the tone for investment in water conservancy construction. Since the beginning of this year, the State Council and relevant government departments have issued the No. 1 document, the Circular on the Provision of Funds for Irrigation and Water Conservancy Construction from the proceeds of land transfer, and the 12th Five-Year Plan for water conservancy, and the Central Water Conservancy Work Conference has been held. The water conservancy situation conference, etc., made it clear that irrigation and water conservancy, river harnessing, risk removal and reinforcement, and flood control and drought relief are the priorities of future water conservancy investment.

Minister of Water Resources Chen Lei introduced at the 8th Ministerial Conference of the Ministry of Water Resources recently expanded that since the beginning of this year, all 31 provinces in the country have issued implementing opinions or decisions to accelerate the development of water conservancy, and have started comprehensively to accelerate the reform of water conservancy and implement the strictest water standards. Resource management system and three types of pilot projects to promote water conservancy modernization. At the same time, a total of 20,550,000 people across the country have resolved the difficulties of drinking water, and completed 320 million mu of drought-resistant land. In addition, the construction of large- and medium-sized irrigation areas and the upgrading of large-scale irrigation and drainage pumping stations have been accelerated, and the construction of weak points in flood prevention has been continuously strengthened. This has solved the water safety problems of more than 63 million rural residents and teachers and students in rural schools.

Chen Lei pointed out that this year's reform of the water conservancy investment and financing system has made major breakthroughs, public finance water conservancy investment has increased significantly, and a policy of extracting 10% of land transfer proceeds for irrigation and water conservancy construction has been implemented. The reform of water prices has been steadily progressing, and budget execution management has been continuously strengthened. As of December 23, 98.33% of the budget implementation progress has been completed.

Investment in water conservancy construction will be dominated by construction projects, and the performance of construction companies will gradually be released. Most of the funds for water conservancy construction investment in China are used for construction projects, and they are mainly invested in water resources projects according to their purpose. From the regional perspective, the eastern and western regions are the key. With the implementation of policies and investments, it is expected that the performance of related companies in the construction industry will gradually be released.

Investment in water conservancy construction will continue to benefit related industries. At present, the construction industry's P/E ratio is 12.1 times, and the valuation advantage is not obvious. Maintain the “neutral” investment rating of the construction industry. Taking into account the support of the national policy for water conservancy construction, related industries will continue to benefit, and it is expected that the performance of water conservancy construction companies will increase along with the increase in order size, which will increase the stock price level and give the relevant industries of water conservancy construction an investment rating of “overweight”.