CFLD executive president shares PPP experience with World Bank

At the invitation of the World Bank, China Fortune Land Development (CFLD) Co Ltd attended an experience-sharing conference on the Chinese public-private partnership (PPP) model.

CFLD attended as the country's only representative of social capital promotion via PPP at the international financial body's headquarters in Washington DC on Sept 18.

The event was co-sponsored by the World Bank and the China Public Private Partnerships Center affiliated to the Ministry of Finance.

Zhang Shufeng, CFLD executive president, described to attendees the innovations and practices of the developmental PPP model in the building of its New Industry City projects. This was well received by the World Bank and other international organizations present.

Those attending included Jason Zhengrong Lu, director of the Global Infrastructure Fund (GIF) of the World Bank; Chiaki Yamamoto, senior expert of the World Bank PPP Project; David Duarte Arancibia, senior World Bank expert in charge of infrastructure finance and PPP project guarantees; and Xianyong (Eric) Gao, chartered financial analyst at the International Finance Corporation and its chief investment officer in China.

How PPP can help traditional economies development

Zhang said in his address at the conference that the PPP model used in New Industry Cities is a comprehensive and market-driven solution for the problems and difficulties facing China's counties in their economic development. Drawing on the experiences of developed countries, CFLD has built its market-oriented and innovative PPP model in close accordance with Chinese national conditions.

Zhang went on to remark that model is hugely important in systematically shoring up the points of weakness in economically underdeveloped regions and helping them develop.

Jason Zhengrong Lu praised CFLD for its PPP model.

Joao Reye Sabino, head of the GIF investment programs, said GIF has made increasing investment in China's infrastructure, transport and energy projects, and added that it will further strengthen communications with CFLD in relevant fields in the future.

Sabino said that social capital has developed a closer partnership with government as a market entity and that their bilateral collaboration boasts natural advantages and sound credit.

CFLD's developmental PPP model of the New Industry City covers both project building and long-term management in a drive to ensure self-sustaining, self-cycling, and sustainable revenues of relevant programs, which is the same line of thinking as that of the World Bank.

The model will enable local governments in China to enhance their competence in program administration and improve the reform and transformation of their operational modes, said Sabino. He went on to describe it as an important innovation to the development model of traditional Chinese economies.

During a meeting with Zhang, Yang Yingming, executive director for China at the World Bank Group, said that the international body has paid more attention to changes in the roles of government and markets in urbanization in developing countries, while committing itself to that urbanization.

CFLD's developmental PPP model has fundamentally transformed the traditional investment model of local governments in China in civic construction. It's provided the World Bank with valuable inspiration for financially supporting the country's urbanization and infrastructure construction in economically underdeveloped regions, said Yang.

Yang further said that China's executive office at the World Bank Group will extend its full assistance to the development of a partnership between CFLD and the international organization in the future.