China reveals €290bn co-funded infrastructure plan

China’s state planning agency yesterday released a list of more than 1,000 proposed projects totalling 1.97tn yuan (€289.5bn) that it is inviting private investors to help fund, build, and operate.

The country’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said the 1,043 projects — in sectors such as transport, water conservation, and public services — will be done as public-private partnerships (PPP).

An NDRC statement online did not say whether private investors will include foreign firms. “The publication of this library of PPP projects is to help speed up the adoption of the PPP model, and to encourage and guide social capital into the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities,” the NDRC said

China is increasingly turning to PPP to fill a widening funding gap as Beijing clamps down on traditional off-balance sheet borrowing methods used by local authorities.

The list includes projects planned for 29 areas including Beijing and southeastern Jiangxi province.

The projects include a 51.bn yuan plan to build two subway lines in the eastern city of Hangzhou, and a 6.4bn yuan hospital in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang.

Beijing is striving to rein in local government debt, estimated at around $3tn.

Reuters