More than ten trillion government-private partnership (PPP) projects are waiting to be implemented, and the progress is not as expected. One of the major reasons is the lack of top-level regulations in the PPP field.

Jiao Xiaoping, director of the PPP Center of the Ministry of Finance, told reporters during the opening ceremony of the PPP Research Center of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics on the 18th that the PPP legislation is currently progressing smoothly. The Ministry of Finance has submitted relevant legislative research results to the State Council Legislative Affairs Office and various seminars organized by the Legislative Affairs Office. Meetings and investigations are in full swing. In the future, the State Council will adopt the path of first promulgating regulations in the PPP field and then promulgating laws in the PPP field to improve the PPP legal system.

Since the State Council vigorously promoted the PPP model in 2013, PPP has exploded in China. According to data from the PPP Center of the Ministry of Finance, as of September 30 this year, there were 10,471 projects in the national comprehensive information platform database, with an amount of about 12.5 trillion yuan.

In the past two years, the Ministry of Finance, the National Development and Reform Commission and other ministries have issued a series of departmental regulations to support the PPP model, but one of the biggest concerns of social capital is the lack of a law in the PPP field to protect the interests of the participants, which is also part of the social capital. An important reason for more wait-and-see and less participation in the PPP model.

In order to speed up the legislative process in the PPP field, the Ministry of Finance previously studied and drafted the "Government and Social Capital Cooperation Law (Draft for Solicitation of Comments)", and the National Development and Reform Commission took the lead in drafting the "China Infrastructure and Public Utilities Franchise Law (Draft for Solicitation of Comments)".

In the executive meeting of the State Council on July 7 this year, Premier Li Keqiang listened to the report on the promotion of the PPP model. The Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance respectively submitted their opinions on "Franchise Legislation" and "PPP Legislation", many of which overlapped and overlapped. , There are still many disagreements. The person in charge of the Legislative Affairs Office stated that the opinions of the two departments should be coordinated to promote the legislative work of a single bill to provide fundamental legal protection for the promotion of the PPP model.

Li Keqiang emphasized at the above-mentioned meeting: "In order to build a government under the rule of law, the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council must surpass the interests of the departments. In the process of drafting relevant laws and regulations, it is necessary to fully listen to and absorb the opinions and suggestions of relevant departments, but also to stand on the'rule of law'. The height of the government is beyond the interests of the department. At this point, the Legal Affairs Office must be authoritative,'it has the final say'!"

At that time, Li Keqiang clearly requested that the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council take the lead to accelerate the relevant legislative process and stimulate the vitality of social investment with a better legal environment.

Jiao Xiaoping said that PPP legislation is very important and should be long-term. At present, the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council plans to issue regulations in the field of PPP to regulate the development of PPP in the past three years, and then actively promote PPP legislation. As some issues in the development of PPP still need to be clarified, the approach of first regulations and then legislation is more active and stable.

Jibang Consulting Chairman Zhang Liao told reporters that this month the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council will hold an expert forum on PPP legislation. Currently, the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council adopts the strategy of first issuing regulations and then issuing laws. During the promulgation of the PPP field regulations, everyone is facing many problems. The first is the name of the regulations. The Ministry of Finance tends to use government and social capital cooperation regulations, while the National Development and Reform Commission tends to favor franchise management regulations.

Jiao Xiaoping said that the franchise concept was introduced to China in the 1990s and used more, but after 2013, with the promotion of the PPP model, everyone adopted more PPP. The concept of PPP is broader, including franchising, and now the relationship between the government and the market is clearer. Many areas do not require government approval, and there is no need to use the concept of "franchise". The current priority is not to entangle with these small issues, but to take PPP as an important starting point for the reform plan as soon as possible and promote the implementation of PPP projects under the reform plan of the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee.

PPP practice is currently faster than theory, and Jiao Xiaoping believes that PPP theoretical research needs to be supplemented. It is also in this context that the China Institute of Public Finance of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, under the guidance of the PPP Center of the Ministry of Finance, formally established the PPP Research Center of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics on the 18th of this month. The center aims to conduct targeted research on the PPP operating mechanism, operating efficiency, and problems encountered in the process of cooperation between the government and enterprises, and to evaluate the operating status of existing PPP projects, and is a PPP project during the "13th Five-Year Plan" period. The comprehensive promotion provides scientific and rigorous counseling reports.