The National Development and Reform Commission has recently approved an early batch of major projects related to national strategies and safety-related capacity building for 2026, along with the central government's budget investment plan totaling about 295 billion yuan ($41 billion) to further expand effective investment, the commission said on Wednesday.

Li Chao, spokeswoman for the commission, said that around 220 billion yuan has been allocated to projects to implement major national strategies and build up safety capacity in key areas, covering 281 projects such as urban underground pipeline networks, high-standard farmland, and logistics cost reduction efforts, adding that the move highlights the initiative's strategic, forward-looking and overarching nature.

More than 75 billion yuan has been allocated from the central government budget to support 673 projects in areas such as urban renewal, water conservancy, ecological protection and restoration, pollution control, and energy conservation and carbon reduction, with government investment playing a guiding role in leveraging broader investment, Li said at a news conference in Beijing on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the commission is accelerating the introduction of a range of institutional and policy measures to ensure that funding is used more efficiently and delivers better investment returns, Li said.

"These efforts include improving financing models for upgrading urban underground pipeline networks and reforming pricing mechanisms for municipal public utilities, refining incentive schemes for water-saving irrigation in agricultural areas, and speeding up the establishment of a modern logistics standards system," Li added.