BEIJING (Reuters) -China plans to ramp up policy support to attract more private capital to the energy sector, a government official said on Tuesday, the latest initiative to improve sluggish private investment.
China’s cabinet unveiled new policy measures on Monday involving private capital investments in infrastructure projects and the low-altitude economy, referring to manned or unmanned aviation services at low elevations.
“Next, we will further strengthen policy support for attracting private capital into the energy sector,” said Xu Xin, the deputy head of the legal affairs department at the National Energy Administration, at a media briefing.
The government has in recent months unveiled a series of measures to support struggling private firms and boost the economy, which has been weighed down by trade tensions, weak domestic consumption, and a prolonged property downturn.
Authorities will enhance their efforts to attract private investment in major projects covering nuclear power, hydropower and cross-regional power transmission channels. Xu said they will also study and assess appropriate shareholding ratios.
China has attracted high-quality private enterprises to invest in hydropower stations in Dadu River, Jinsha River, and Benzilan, she added.
The cabinet said projects requiring state approval, such as railways, nuclear power, hydropower, cross-regional power transmission channels, oil and gas pipelines, LNG import storage facilities and water supplies should conduct a special assessment of the feasibility of private investment.
China will encourage private investment in these key projects, normally led by state-owned companies, with shareholding ratios set according to specifics and policy requirements. For eligible projects, private shareholdings could exceed 10%, the cabinet said.
Private firms have also been allowed to take stakes of up to 20% in some major nuclear power projects, Guan Peng, deputy head of the fixed-asset investment department at the National Development and Reform Commission, said at a briefing.
China will meet the reasonable credit needs of private firms and implement “green channel” policies for stock listings, as well as mergers and acquisitions of technology-based companies focused on breakthroughs in core technologies, he said.
In April, China passed a new law aimed at boosting confidence in the private sector and strengthening its role in the economy amid heightened trade tensions with the United States.
Fixed-asset investment in the private sector shrank 3.1% in the first nine months of this year from a year earlier, while state-sector investment rose 1.0%, official data showed.
(Reporting by Beijing Newsroom and Kevin Yao; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus and Saad Sayeed)
