China's biggest banks, including Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd, have joined other financial firms in a 180 billion yuan ($28 billion) fund to invest in public-private partnership (PPP) projects. The Ministry of Finance (MOF) launched the fund jointly with banks and other major conglomerates and institutions, the ministry said on Wednesday in a statement on its website.
Ten institutions, including China Construction Bank Corp and Bank of China Ltd , joined the group, which also includes China Life Insurance (Group), CITIC Group and the National Council for Social Security Fund. The Chinese government, which is looking to support a slowing economy, wants to accelerate construction investment by attracting private financing through the increased use of public-private partnerships.
The MOF on Tuesday published details for 206 proposed PPP projects, worth a total value of 658.9 billion yuan, including an expressway in Beijing. In May, the National Development and Reform Commission released a list of 1,043 projects, in sectors ranging from transportation to water conservation, that it said were open to PPP financing. The fund, alongside recently released regulations to support PPP investment, were important steps that would "deepen fiscal and financial co-operation", the ministry said, implying closer co-operation between the MOF and banks. Other institutions joining the fund include the Agricultural Bank of China Ltd , Bank of Communications Co, China Everbright Group, and Postal Savings Bank of China.