PPP应用领域和总投资额双增 更多行业领域破冰
PPP expands to agriculture and forestry
作为投融资体制改革的一项重要探索，我国首批农业和林业领域政府和社会资本合作(PPP)试点项目日前正式公布。截至今年上半年，全国PPP入库项目总投资额已超过16万亿元，PPP项目需求还在持续加大。专家表示，随着更多的行业领域破冰，PPP应用范围会越来越大，但与此同时，也要高度重视发展PPP模式过程中出现的多种不规范现象，监管部门要求严禁各类借PPP变相举债等行为。
破冰农林业首批PPP试点项目公布
国家发改委和农业部近日共同组织筛选了农业领域第一批政府和社会资本合作(PPP)试点项目，河北、江苏、安徽等省份的20个项目入围。而就在此前不久，国家发改委办公厅、国家林业局办公室印发社会资本参与林业生态建设第一批试点项目的通知，确定河北省洋辰投资集团有限公司建设万亩造林园区项目等12个项目作为国家层面联系的社会资本参与林业生态建设第一批试点项目。
至此，政府今年年初提出的年内启动农业、林业领域的PPP试点工作出现了实质性突破。
专家认为，PPP模式适用于具有公共服务属性、政府无法独立承担、期限较长又具有微利的项目，农业和林业的建设与PPP模式的特点不谋而合，且市场规模巨大。
社科院中国财经战略研究院副研究员蒋震就对《经济参考报》记者表示，农业PPP一定要站在现代农业发展的角度去优化机制。让社会资本参与农业项目的前提是保证收益率，要通过现代农业的发展，实现规模化、分工化、技术化、职业化，从而增加社会资本的收益率。此外，农业PPP项目不局限于农业生产本身，要从农业全产业链角度去提高社会资本参与的积极性，比如要加大对农业加工业、农业观光旅游等第三产业项目的重视程度。
社科院农村发展研究所研究员李国祥表示，可以由国家通过财政注入资金成立担保公司或保险公司，如果社会资本投入后出现风险，这类政策性的担保、保险公司可以赔付一部分，这样可以把银行、金融等各方面积极性调动起来，吸引更多资本投资农业。
农业部产业政策与法规司副司长郭永田认为，在一些基础项目上，政府要真正实现从微观向宏观、从审批向监管、从项目安排向制度供给的转变，要真正做到政府投入与社会资本有机结合，利用PPP创新农业投资模式，提高投资效率。
双增 PPP应用领域和总量实现突破
实际上，农业并非近期唯一首次被纳入PPP示范项目的行业。根据财政部等19部门日前联合印发的《关于组织开展第四批政府和社会资本合作示范项目申报筛选工作的通知》(简称通知)，第四批PPP示范项目申报筛选注重激发市场活力，激励先进地区，突出行业破冰和引领带动效应，优先支持民营企业参与的项目。通知提出，优先支持环境保护、农业、水利、消费安全、智慧城市和旅游、文化、教育、体育、养老等幸福产业的项目。
大岳咨询总经理金永祥对《经济参考报》记者表示，通知提出行业破冰，较前三批示范项目相比，增加了农业、消费安全和商贸基础设施等领域，PPP的应用范围将会越来越大。申报条件较前三批严格，对前期工作的深度要求较高，并规定至少要进入采购阶段。该规定有助于示范项目落地，对稳增长有积极作用。他还表示，申报规模较第三批每个省从50个增加到60个，略有增长，入选示范项目个数和投资有望超过750个和15000亿。
Star
与PPP应用范围同时实现突破的，还有PPP的总投资额。根据财政部PPP中心的最新统计显示：截至2017年6月末，按照财政部相关要求审核纳入项目库的项目，即全国入库项目有13554个，总投资额达16.4万亿元，覆盖全国31个省(自治区、直辖市)及新疆兵团，19个行业领域。自2016年1月末至2017年6月末，全国PPP综合信息平台项目库月均增长项目386个、投资额4842亿元，PPP项目需求还在持续加大。
警惕不规范现象引监管高度重视
虽然发展形势一片大好，但目前各地出现的一些违规现象也引起了监管部门的警惕。日前财政部专门就进一步推进PPP规范发展召开了工作座谈会。
“目前，一些地方政府通过PPP、政府购买服务等方式，变相举借债务，导致债务规模增长较快，债务率甚至超过了警戒线，形成潜在的风险触发点。”财政部PPP工作领导小组组长、副部长史耀斌坦言，推广PPP模式的初心，是要推动公共服务领域供给侧结构性改革，引入市场机制和资源，提升管理能力，促进公共服务提质增效，而不是单纯地解决融资问题。当前PPP项目出现了变相融资等不规范现象，需要引起高度重视。
中国人民大学重阳金融研究院研究员刘英表示，受制于既有经验，部分地方政府仍将其作为缓解债务压力的工具，甚至将部分债务项目包装成PPP项目，从而未能使用PPP政策引导产业环境，反而由于债务项目的包装，加大了PPP项目承担的债务风险。而公共服务PPP项目回报率较低，本身也存在回报风险。因此，控制PPP专项债的潜在风险，首先要根据PPP项目运行进程，完善相应的法律法规，对合作双方进行有效的法律约束，消除民营资本参与PPP项目的顾虑。
而监管部门对此也做好了应对部署。史耀斌表示，下一步，要严控“红线”。要强化财政承受能力论证10%“红线”的硬性约束，统一执行口径，加强信息公开。所有项目都必须在PPP综合信息平台中，及时公开财政承受能力论证报告及有关数据。未按规定公开的，要从项目库中清退。各地要建立PPP项目财政支出责任统计监测体系，中央财政和省级财政对接近或超出10%红线的地区，要进行风险预警。
此外，史耀斌还强调严禁各类借PPP变相举债的行为。要审慎开展完全政府付费的项目。对于不包含运营内容、无绩效考核机制、社会资本不实际承担项目建设运营风险的项目，不得安排财政资金。而对于不属于公共服务的纯商业化项目，以及仅涉及建设、无运营内容的纯工程项目，要准确界定，从识别、论证、入库等环节严格把关，不能继续任由其打着PPP的旗号“混淆视听”。
China has announced the first batch of pilot PPP (private-public partnership) projects in the agriculture and forestry field, as an important move in the investment and financing system reform. As of the first half of this year, the total investment of PPP projects put into database has exceeded 16 trillion yuan, and the demands for PPP projects are still increasing. Experts said that as more industries give access to PPP projects, the applications of PPP will expand continuously. But meanwhile, China should attach great importance to non-standard phenomena in the process of PPP model. Regulators should forbid loaning under the disguise of PPP projects.
First batch of agriculture and forestry PPP projects announced
It is a substantive breakthrough after the government proposed earlier this year to launch pilot PPP projects in the field of agriculture and forestry.
Experts believe that the PPP model is suitable for projects that long-term public projects with margin projects which yet the government cannot undertake alone. Agriculture and forestry construction is consistent with the characteristics of PPP projects. And it has a huge market.
Jiang Zhen, associate researcher with the National Academy of Economic Strategy (NAES) of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), told the Economic Information Daily that it should optimize the mechanism of agricultural PPP projects from the perspective of modern agricultural development. Guarantee of yields is the premise for social capital to participate in agricultural projects. It should increase the yields of social capital via the development of modern agriculture. In addition, agricultural PPP projects should not be limited to the production like. It should motivate social capital to participate in the whole agricultural industry chain. For example, it can give more attention to the agricultural processing industry, agricultural tourism and other tertiary industry projects.
Li Guoxiang, researcher with CASS Rural Development Institute, said that the government can inject fiscal fund to set up guarantee companies or insurance companies. If social capital encounters risks after investing in PPP projects, these guarantee companies or insurance companies can give some compensation to social capital. Thus, it can mobilize both the banking and financial sectors and attract more social capital to invest in agricultural projects.
Guo Yongtian, deputy director of the Department of Sectoral Policy and Law of the Ministry of Agriculture, believed that in some fundamental projects, the government should achieve transition from micro to macro, from approval to supervision, from project arrangement to system supply, make government fund truly combine with social capital to use PPP projects to make innovation in agricultural investment model and improve investment efficiency.
Both PPP applications and size expand
In fact, agriculture is not the only industry that has been included in the PPP demonstration project for the first time in the near future. According to a notice issued by the Ministry of Finance and other 19 departments, the fourth batch of PPP demonstration project is leaning to projects that can stimulate the market vitality. The notice said that the government will give priority to environmental protection, agriculture, water conservancy, consumption safety, smart city as well projects concerning people’s happiness, including tourism, culture, education, sports, elderly care.
Like the application of PPP programs, it also made breakthroughs in the total investment amount. Based on the latest statistics of the PPP center of the Ministry of Finance, 13,554 programs with a total investment of 16.4 trillion yuan have been accepted as at the end of June 2017. Such programs cover 19 industries in 31 provinces and Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC). From the end of January 2016 to the end of June 2017, the national PPP comprehensive information platform saw a monthly average of 386 programs with an investment of 484.2 billion yuan. The demand for PPP programs is still increasing.
It is noteworthy that the implementation of programs is improving. Based on the implementation of demonstration programs, all of the first and second batches of demonstration programs have been implemented. As at the end of June, 311 or 60.6 percent of the third batch of demonstration programs have been implemented, representing an increase of 15 programs or 2.9 percentage points from the previous period. Compared with the end of last year, the number of programs implemented increased 91 or 17.7 percentage points. Based on the area, Shandong, Xinjiang and Anhui contributed 30.4 percent of the total number of programs implemented. As for the industries, municipal projects, transportation, ecological construction and environmental protection accounted for 64.3 percent of the total number of programs implemented.
Regulation to focus on illicit activities
Despite the booming trend, regulatory authorities are paying more attention to illicit activities. The Ministry of Finance recently held a work conference on the regulatory development of PPP programs recently.
“Currently, some local governments face excessive growth in debt size due to PPPs and the acquisition of debts. Their debts even exceeded the warning line and may trigger risks.” According to Vice-Minister of Finance Shi Yaobin, it was to promote the supply-side structural reform in public services to promote the PPP model and introduce the market mechanism and resources to improve the management ability and the quality and effects of public services rather than solving financing problems. There are disguised financing and other illicit activities in the current PPP programs and more attention must be paid.
Due to the limitation of current experiences, certain local governments still use it as an instrument to ease debt pressures, indicated Liu Ying, a research fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies of the Renmin University of China. They even disguised certain debt programs into PPP programs, which fails to use PPP policies to guide the industrial environment and increases the debt risks of PPP programs. PPP programs in public services enjoy lower returns and risks. As a result, it has to improve the corresponding laws and regulations to bind both parties and eliminate the concerns of private capitals in participating in PPP programs based on the operation progress of PPP programs.
Regulatory authorities also made corresponding arrangements. Shi indicated that it will further control the “red line”. It will strengthen the restriction of the 10 percent red line of the financial capacity, adopt unified standards and enhance information publicity. Relevant reports and data on the financial capacity of all programs shall be published in the PPP comprehensive information platform. Those haven’t published relevant data shall be eliminated. Local governments shall establish a monitoring system on the financial expenses of PPP programs. Central and provincial financial authorities should conduct risks alarming on regions reaching or exceeding the 10 percent red line.
In addition, Shi also emphasized various debts through PPP programs. It should prudently conduct programs paid by the government. It should not arrange capitals for programs without operation contents, performance appraisal mechanisms and private capitals assuming risks. It should define commercial programs and pure projects without operation contents and prevent them from being disguised in PPP programs.
Source: Xinhua Finance Agency 丨Shanghai Securities News
Translated by Star Zhang and Coral Zhong
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