China earmarks $19 bln for transport, infrastructure

China's Finance Ministry announced a massive spending boost today. The central government will allocate 120 billion yuan, or 19.3 billion US dollars this year to help local governments fund transport and infrastructure spending. This is estimated to be the biggest effort yet to boost the country's economic growth.

The Finance Ministry said it will inject 70 billion yuan to spend on new projects including highways, waterways and docks. Road upgrades and rural road building will get 50 billion yuan.

Last September, China said it had given the green light to 60 infrastructure projects worth more than 150 billion US dollars as part of a slew of pro-growth policy initiatives. Infrastructure investment is a key growth driver for China's economy, and is likely to propel growth this year. Analysts forecast the world's second-largest economy to grow by around 8.1 percent in 2013.