China opens urban public utility works to private, overseas investors

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, September 25, 2003

China opens urban public utility works to private, overseas investors

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China will completely open its municipal works to all domestic and overseas investors, and in the process the Chinese government will gradually change its role from a direct controller to a policy maker.

Qiu Baoxing, vice minister of construction, announced the plan at the opening ceremony of China's first national seminar for privatization of municipal works in Beijing Wednesday.

Qiu said China will break monopolies in the sector, which includes water supply, gas supply, heating supply, sewage treatment, and waste treatment.

Government policies will change to favor private investors, said Qiu.

"Only in this way can cities attract more capital into the construction of municipal works and then improve the cities' investment environment."

According to Qiu, the Chinese government has abolished some restrictions and urged all Chinese local governments to create stable preferential policies for the use of water and land, and other areas such as taxes, for domestic and overseas investors.

The country is still working on legal documents for the reform,a nd also trying to promote the bidding and franchising management systems when operating new projects, said Qiu.

China has decided to further reform its charging system for the treatment of sewage water and garbage, which has proved an effective way to ensure the sound operation of project investment, Qiu added.

In addition, China will permit more agencies into the municipal works market to participate in project bidding.

Each year about two billion square meters of housing is built in China, and there is great demand for electricity supply, water supply, heating supply, and sewage treatment service, said Qiu.

"There is no market in the world larger than China."

The seminar also invited many financial institutions, domestic and overseas companies, to meet face-to-face with local government officials.

Over 730 projects will be announced during the seminar, with a total value of 150 billion yuan (about 18 billion US dollars).

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