Partnership with private companies fuels growth

Seven areas outlined for cooperative infrastructure projects with business

China's top economic planner singled out on Wednesday seven areas for public-private partnerships to fuel the country's economic growth.

The National Development and Reform Commission said the plan will be implemented as soon as possible.

Li Pumin, secretary general of the NDRC, said it is a practical move to re-adjust the economic structure and seek more areas for growth.

"As the government focuses on improving public services, environmental protection and the use of natural resources, the NDRC will take effective measures in tackling monopolistic behavior and further create diversified investment methods to offer more opportunities to businesses in China," Li said.

The seven areas are: a national communications network for oil and gas, health and elderly care services, grain storage and water resources, transportation, clean energy, environmental protection and supportive infrastructure for oil, gas and other mineral resources.

China's economic growth slowed to 7.3 percent in the third quarter, raising concerns that expansion could fall in coming months to below 7 percent — a rate not seen since the global financial crisis.

"Transportation projects including rail, airport and road construction works in central and western China, along with the fast pace of urbanization, are crucial in boosting investment growth, as well as ensuring nationwide employment," said Liu Yuanchun, assistant dean of the School of Economics at Renmin University of China.

China's investment in fixed assets climbed by 15.9 percent year-on-year to top 40 trillion yuan ($6.5 trillion) from January to October, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Fei Zhirong, director general of the NDRC's department of basic industries, said that for all of 2014 China planned to invest 800 billion yuan in rail development and start operating 7,000 kilometers of new railroad lines.

Ou Hong, inspector of the Department of Fixed Asset Investment of the NDRC, said that the central government has encouraged public-private partnerships to create more areas for market growth as part of economic reform.

The public-private partnership model is where a service or venture is funded and operated through a partnership between government and the private sector.

Wang Wei, director general of the NDRC's Department of Social Development, said, "We are expecting to seemore public-private partnership contracts signed in China soon that deal with longterm upkeep, like indevelopedmarkets," said Wang.