Calling Private Investors

By+Wang+Jun

Breaking monopolies， creating equal investment opportunities and easing access to investment—all of these and more are included in Chinas new guidelines on reforming investment and financing regimes and encouraging private investment in key industries， which were released by the State Council on November 26.

Li Pumin， a spokesman for the National Development and Reform Commission （NDRC）， said at a recent press conference that in order to accelerate economic restructuring and ensure sound and sustainable economic growth， the NDRC， in accordance with the arrangements of the State Council， Chinas cabinet， and through cooperation with other ministries， has selected ecological and environmental protection， agriculture， water projects， municipal infrastructure， transport， energy， telecommunications and public services as key industrial areas likely to attract private investment.

According to Li， the set of guidelines， composed of 39 items organized into 11 sections， focus on establishing market-oriented investment and operational regimes for projects in the seven areas. “These measures will effectively ease market access and point out how private investment can interact positively with key industries，” he said.

Li added that the guidelines also propose setting up and improving a public-private partnership （PPP）， with the aim of giving full play to the governments role in guiding investment and innovating financing channels.

Opportunities

The guidelines emphasize the creation of equal investment opportunities for private investors in previously state-monopolized industries such as power and energy.

“For instance， the guidelines allow the introduction of private investment in nuclear power projects and encourages private companies to enter nuclear power equipment research， development and services，” said Ou Hong， who sits on the counsel of the Department of Fixed Assets Investment of the NDRC.

Ou said that the government has， in recent years， issued a series of policies that encourage private investment. The new guidelines come into play with these policies， showing the governments resolution and confidence in leveraging the huge non-state funds.

According to him， the guidelines apply uniform market access rules to all investors and aim at creating equal investment opportunities. Greater attention has also been given to innovating investment regimes to establish more entry-and-exit channels for private investors. Government input will ideally play a key role in stimulating private investment. The guidelines also vow to innovate and provide better financing services for private investors.endprint

“To ensure steady growth of investment in infrastructure projects， China must effectively address the current embarrassing situation of local governments lacking adequate financing channels but private investors are not enthusiastic about participating in infrastructure projects，” said Li Xuesong， Deputy Director of the Institute of Quantitative and Technical Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. “The government must also accelerate the reform of monopoly industries， break industrial barriers， allow access to private investors and raise the investment returns of infrastructure projects，” he said.

Innovating input regimes

According to the guidelines， in the sectors of public services， resources， ecological and environmental protection and infrastructure， the government will promote the use of the PPP model， innovate investment regimes and actively expand investment channels for private funds.

Ou said that the NDRC is preparing a document for promoting the PPP and will soon issue it to the public.

The guidelines state that various measures such as credit guarantees， industrial investment funds， equity financing and debt financing will be adopted to offer more financing channels for private investors. For instance， the government will reform credit services， backing business loans with pollutant discharge rightsmortgages. Investors will also be allowed to secure loans with a mortgage of expected returns for supplying basic municipal services—heat， water， power and garbage disposal. In addition， authorities will conduct research on establishing equity investment and venture capital funds， encouraging private investors to draw up industrial investment schemes where the government can hold some stakes.

Su Jian， Associate Director of the Department of Economics of Peking University， said that the new guidelines mainly focus on the investment projects of benefit to the public. By reforming the investment regimes of these projects， the government will support more private investment to participate， which can both improve public services and remarkably trim government expenditures.

By introducing market-oriented regimes to projects of public benefit， the government can also improve the efficiency of these projects and stimulate investment， which will ultimately ensure stable economic growth， Su said.

Tapping market potential

According to Li， the NDRC now pays more attention to key projects in four sectors—grain production and water conservancy， transportation， ecological and environmental protection， as well as healthcare and senior services.endprint

In the grain production and water conservancy sector， a national grain security project will be launched to improve all steps of the grain production process and offer better storage and logistics services. Several major water conservancy projects will also be built to consolidate Chinas flooding control and irrigation systems.

A number of key transportation projects will be put into operation to accelerate the construction of highways， airports， railways in central and west China， inter-city railways， as well as high-grade water transportation lines along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and other major waterways. The guidelines allow local governments and private investors to own and operate inter-city railways， suburban railways， resource-development railways and feeder railways.

In key ecological and environmental protection projects， priority will be given to restoring landscape ecology， controlling air and water pollution， improving the ecological environment of waterways and reducing the emission of pollutants.

Projects related to healthcare and senior services will focus on accelerating the establishment of a sound healthcare system， increasing the availability of medical services and establishing an appropriately-sized senior service system with sustainable development.

Ou said that pricing regimes in related industries will undergo further reforms to ensure profitability and steady returns for private investors. The guidelines propose reform measures for pricing policies in water conservancy， municipal infrastructure， energy and public service sectors. For example， the document requires furthering the natural gas pricing reform， allowing market-oriented price options for nonresident users. All other similar measures will offer room and opportunities for private investors to make money in these key industries.

Zou Shinian， an assistant researcher with the State Information Center in Beijing， pointed out that the Chinese economy has shifted from the previously seen high speed to a mediumto-high speed growth， while its structure is constantly improved and upgraded， and the growth is increasingly driven by innovation instead of input and investment. “Under these conditions， stimulating private investment will have a significant effect on Chinas economic growth. The guidelines will definitely enhance the decisive role of the market in resource allocation， which will be conducive to stimulating the enthusiasm of private investors， improving peoples wellbeing and boosting economic and social development，” Zou noted.

In Zous opinion， in fact， the government should formulate even more policies to guarantee ownership and returns of private investment.endprint