Huang Qifan, mayor of Chongqing, speaks before delegates of city infrastructure forum in 2013. (Photo : www.cities-today.com)
Chongqing, a business hub in southwest China, has opened 33 projects Monday, July 27, to private investors through public-private partnership (PPP), the Xinhua News Agency reported.
At the announcement made during the PPP project signing ceremony, the city government identified the projects, worth a total of 130 billion yuan ($21 billion), as three highways, two subway lines, parking lots, hospitals, low-cost housing units and other urban infrastructure.
The report said that since the metropolis was trying to reduce government spending and improve public services, it allowed both local and foreign investors to take part in the construction and operation of the projects.
The 800-billion-yuan-worth PPP projects are expected to be implemented by the city by 2020.
According to Huang Qifan, mayor of Chongqing, PPP helped keep an 18-percent growth in fixed asset investment in 2014 when the government cut 101.6 billion yuan in debt.
PPP denotes the long-term cooperation between governments and private companies in infrastructure or public services. Most PPP projects are funded and operated by private investors but under the supervision of local governments.
The report said that although the application for the financing has been slow, PPPs have been practiced in China since the 1980s.
In 2014, the government released two PPP guidelines after it was faced with mounting local government debt and the urgent need to finance urbanization amid the rapidly aging population.
The State Council said in May that the government will streamline approval procedures for PPPs and provide PPPs engaged in public services to avail tax breaks and other financial incentives.
