The 8th International Infrastructure Investment and Construction Forum opened in Macau on June 1. In his keynote speech, Sun Ping, Vice President of the Export-Import Bank of China, pointed out that infrastructure construction has the characteristics of long investment period, long payback period, large social benefits but insignificant short-term economic benefits. To resolve the contradiction between capital supply and demand, it is necessary to broaden financing channels and mobilize more funds for joint participation.

Sun Ping suggested innovating and designing more flexible, applicable, and diverse financial products. First, closely align with the actual conditions of each country and the specific characteristics of projects, adapt to local conditions and tailor measures to better meet the financing needs of different countries and regions and different types of infrastructure construction projects. Second, innovate financing tools; while vigorously developing direct financing and indirect financing, organically combine and synergize the two, such as applying and promoting forms like investment-loan combination and mixed loans. Third, strengthen cooperation among financial institutions; through on-lending, syndicated loans, joint financing, equity participation, and other means, learn from each other's experience, integrate multiple advantages, and provide higher-quality, more efficient, and comprehensive financial support.

He emphasized the need to guide and mobilize private capital. Considering that infrastructure has the characteristics of public welfare, quasi-public goods, and long-term cash inflow after completion, new financing models such as PPP can be vigorously promoted to widely absorb private capital and jointly participate with government funds in infrastructure investment and construction, adding more vitality to infrastructure cooperation.

Sun Ping believes that host countries should provide policy conditions conducive to infrastructure construction. Infrastructure construction involves a large scale of funds and complex processes and construction procedures, which cannot be completed by any single party alone. Within the scope of their financial capacity, host countries can provide facilitation conditions such as land, taxation, investment, and labor for infrastructure construction and investment and financing, optimize the investment and business environment, and encourage and stimulate foreign funds to participate in infrastructure construction. At the same time, for sustainable development, host countries should comprehensively consider the project's economic benefits, social benefits, and international balance of payments.

"In the process of reform and opening up, China provided a large number of preferential conditions including taxation and land use to attract international funds to participate in domestic construction. Host countries with infrastructure construction needs can learn from China's reform and opening-up experience, have a mindset and broad-mindedness of yielding profits, increase market openness, and provide facilitation conditions for infrastructure construction and investment and financing," he said.

As of the end of 2016, the Export-Import Bank of China had a loan balance of 622.5 billion yuan for the "Belt and Road," with more than 1,200 projects under execution in regions along the "Belt and Road," distributed in more than 50 countries along the routes.