According to a conference on the building materials industry held in the northwestern Chinese province of Xinjiang, this industry is expected to record rapid development in the province in China's 12th five-year plan period (2011-15) on the back of massive investment by the Chinese central government.
In the 2011-2020 period, the Chinese central government will provide total investment of up to RMB 2.12 trillion ($322 billion) for the development of infrastructure in Xinjiang Province.
As regards transportation infrastructure, in the coming five years China's Ministry of Transport will invest RMB 150-200 billion ($22-30 billion) for the construction of 76,000 km of roads in Xinjiang. In 2011 alone, infrastructure investments in roads in Xinjiang will total RMB 35 billion ($5 billion). In addition, in the 2011-15 period China's Ministry of Railways will invest RMB 310 billion ($47.2 billion) in railway construction in Xinjiang. In the same period, Xinjiang will build, relocate or expand a total of nine airports.
The large number of key infrastructure projects planned in Xinjiang will require large amounts of steel, cement and other building materials, with the building materials industry in Xinjiang Province accordingly expected to see very rapid growth.