More sectors will be open to outside capital
The government will promote private investment by improving the public-private partnership (PPP) model and expanding access to more sectors, said a spokesman for the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planner.
Private investment is important for the stable operation of the economy, Zhao Chenxin told a press briefing in Beijing on Thursday.
He said the government aims to attract private investors with a number of measures including improving the PPP model, opening more sectors to private investment and doing more to help private investors raise funds.
Under the PPP model, a public project can be funded and operated jointly by the government and private companies.
As of April 13 this year, 8.8 trillion yuan ($1.36 trillion) had been put into more than 7,700 PPP projects, data released by the PPP center of the Ministry of Finance (MOF) showed.
"Applications for the third batch of pilot projects are in progress," an official with the PPP center, who requested anonymity, told the Global Times on Thursday.
There is no doubt that the government will actively facilitate the PPP model, which is generally considered the best way to raise funds for railway construction, Xu Bin, an analyst specializing in delivery and infrastructure at UBS Securities, said at a briefing on Thursday.
Railway fixed-assets investment is expected to reach 4.1 trillion yuan during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20), said a report UBS Securities sent to the Global Times.
"The PPP model will exert a positive influence on promoting private investment in the long run," the official with MOF said.
The government will open more sectors to attract private investors, noted Zhao, the NDRC spokesman.
Private capital is being encouraged to enter those industries that are not specifically forbidden by law, Zhao said.
Currently, most of the private investment goes to such as transportation, municipal engineering projects and water utilities, according to the PPP center.
Private fixed-assets investment was 5.32 trillion yuan in the first quarter of 2016, accounting for 62 percent of the country's total fixed-assets investment, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics in April.
