The General Office of the State Council recently issued the Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Construction of Urban Underground Utility Tunnels (hereinafter referred to as the Opinions), comprehensively deploying the promotion of urban underground utility tunnel construction. Ten specific measures, including "compiling special plans" and "designating construction areas," are particularly noteworthy.

 The Opinions point out that promoting the construction of underground utility tunnels, coordinating the planning, construction, and management of various municipal pipelines, and solving problems such as repeated road excavation, dense overhead cable networks, and frequent pipeline accidents are conducive to ensuring urban safety, improving urban functions, beautifying urban landscapes, and promoting intensive, efficient, and transformational urban development. They are also conducive to enhancing the comprehensive carrying capacity of cities and the quality of urbanization, increasing effective investment in public products, stimulating social capital investment, and creating new drivers for economic development.

 The Opinions specify that by 2020, a batch of underground utility tunnels with internationally advanced levels will be built and put into operation, the "road zipper" problem of repeated road excavation will be significantly improved, pipeline safety and disaster prevention and mitigation capabilities will be markedly enhanced, the spider-web-like overhead cables on major streets will be gradually eliminated, and the urban ground landscape will be significantly improved.

 The Opinions emphasize that promoting the construction of underground utility tunnels must adhere to reality, strengthen top-level design, and advance actively and orderly; adhere to planning first, clarify quality standards, and improve technical specifications; adhere to government leadership, leverage market forces, and attract broad participation of social capital.

 The Opinions propose ten specific measures from four aspects: overall planning, orderly construction, strict management, and supportive policies. First, compile special plans. Establish a project reserve system, and clarify the five-year rolling project plan and annual construction plan. Second, improve standards and specifications. Improve and enhance standards for the construction management, seismic resistance, and disaster prevention of underground utility tunnels. Third, designate construction areas. Starting from 2015, underground utility tunnels shall be built simultaneously with new roads in urban new areas, various parks, and contiguous development areas. In old urban areas, underground utility tunnel construction shall be arranged in accordance with local conditions and overall planning, in conjunction with old city renewal, road renovation, river regulation, and underground space development. Fourth, clarify implementation entities. Promote the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, and encourage enterprises to invest in the construction and operation management of underground utility tunnels. Fifth, ensure quality and safety. Strictly perform statutory construction procedures, and implement the main responsibilities of all parties for quality and safety. Sixth, clarify pipeline entry requirements. All pipelines in areas where underground utility tunnels have been built must enter the tunnels, and existing pipelines shall be gradually relocated to underground utility tunnels according to actual conditions. Seventh, implement paid use. Pipeline units entering the tunnels shall pay tunnel entry fees and daily maintenance fees to the construction and operation units of the underground utility tunnels. The specific charging standards shall be determined through negotiation between the construction and operation units of the underground utility tunnels and the pipeline units entering the tunnels based on market principles. Eighth, improve management level. Clarify the responsibilities of the construction and operation units of underground utility tunnels and the pipeline units entering the tunnels. Ninth, increase government investment. The central government shall actively guide the construction of underground utility tunnels, and local people's governments at all levels shall further increase capital investment. Tenth, improve financing support. Fully leverage the role of development finance, encourage relevant financial institutions to increase credit support; include underground utility tunnel construction in the scope of special financial bond support; and support underground utility tunnel enterprises in issuing corporate bonds and project revenue notes.

 The Opinions require that all regions, relevant departments, and related units earnestly perform their duties. First, the people's governments of cities are the responsible entities for the construction and management of underground utility tunnels, and they must strengthen organizational leadership and solidly advance specific work. Second, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, together with relevant departments, shall establish a coordination mechanism, strengthen guidance and supervision, and grasp the pilot work of underground utility tunnels to quickly form a batch of replicable and promotable demonstration projects. Third, the competent departments of various pipeline industries and pipeline management units shall fulfill their respective duties and jointly promote the construction of underground utility tunnels. Fourth, central enterprises and provincial enterprises shall cooperate with the people's governments of cities to complete the work of relocating their pipelines underground and into tunnels.