PPP Prospects

Statistics from the Ministry of Finance showed that as of the end of September 2016, there were 10,471 public-private partnership (PPP) funded projects nationwide worth 12.46 trillion yuan (US$1.8t). Among these, 946 projects have entered the implementation stage, with a total investment of 1.56 trillion yuan (US$225b). PPPs are collaborative projects between governments and private companies and more than half of the projects involved urban construction. Chinese authorities began funding infrastructure through PPP models in late 2013 amid growing concerns over rising local government debt. It remains a challenge, however, for the government to lure more private enterprises into getting involved at a time when there are many problems in the management and implementation of PPP projects and the returns on investments will take years to yield.