China unveils measures to promote private investment

BEIJING - China's top economic planner said Wednesday it has unveiled a raft of policies to promote the healthy growth of private investment.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) released the policy document, which contains 26 measures aimed at promoting investment growth, improving financial services, reducing corporate costs and updating administrative services.

"At present, government departments and local authorities are striving to implement those policies in order to make private investment stabilize and recover," the NDRC said.

In the first eight months of this year, private fixed-asset investment rose only 2.1 percent year on year in real terms, much lower than the 8.1-percent growth for national overall fixed-asset investment during the same period, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

The government will further relax market access to private capital and encourage investment in civil airports, telecommunications, oil and gas exploration, electricity, as well as national defense technology, the document showed.

China will also facilitate private capital's participation in the social service sector, expand the public-private partnership (PPP) model and build an online investment project approval and supervision platform, according the document.

The government will create a plan for local governments to repay their debts, including debts to companies for construction projects and government procurement, it added.

The document also includes policies to streamline procedures and reduce fees, improve the legal framework and lower the financing costs of private companies.