Hong Kong’s Northern Metropolis development is progressing. Financial Secretary Paul Chan said on July 26 that four new development areas have started construction, with over 520 hectares of land resumed and about 120 hectares leveled. Over the next five years, the project will provide more than 70,000 housing units and 1 million square meters of economic floor space. Over the next decade, it will deliver about 240,000 housing units, over 10 million square meters of economic floor space, and create 500,000 jobs. Public space standards have been raised by 30% to 3.5 square meters per person. The Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park in the Lok Ma Chau Loop has attracted over 90 tech enterprises, with five more buildings to be completed this year.
In the first quarter of 2026, all 28 provinces that disclosed their fiscal data had fiscal self-sufficiency rates below 100%. Zhejiang led at 96.1%, while six coastal provinces exceeded 70% and half of the provinces fell below 50%, with Tibet at 13.8%. The Ministry of Finance noted that local fiscal self-sufficiency typically falls short of 100% and that central transfer payments of 9.4 trillion yuan in the first half of 2026, or 90.3% of the annual budget, help maintain balance.
China State Construction has secured several major projects with a combined value of RMB 13.39 billion, representing 0.6% of its audited revenue for 2025. The projects include the Beijing Yunmengshanju elderly care community (RMB 3.59 billion), the Liaoning Hengli Heavy Industry Dalian shipyard (RMB 2.51 billion), the Shenzhen Xili station construction (RMB 4.70 billion), and the Xinjiang Tacheng Shencheng intelligent computing center (RMB 2.59 billion).