On July 14, the Autonomous Region Development and Reform Commission released the first batch of government and social capital cooperation (PPP) projects in the infrastructure sector for 2017. This is also the fifth batch of PPP projects released by the autonomous region since 2015. This batch includes a total of 80 projects with a total investment of 316.843 billion yuan, making it the batch with the largest number of projects and the largest investment amount among PPP projects.
       According to a review by reporters, transportation projects are the most numerous in this batch, reaching 34, followed by 24 in major municipal engineering, 8 in water conservancy, 5 in energy, 4 in environmental protection, 2 in forestry, 2 in information and communication, and 1 in agriculture. Among them, the PPP projects involving Urumqi are all concentrated in the transportation sector.
　　A responsible person from the Autonomous Region Development and Reform Commission introduced that infrastructure construction is still the biggest shortcoming restricting Xinjiang's economic and social development. Accelerating the implementation of the PPP model in the infrastructure sector is an important means to ensure the realization of fixed asset investment in the autonomous region. Since 2015, the autonomous region has actively and steadily promoted the PPP model. Previously, the Autonomous Region Development and Reform Commission has released four batches of PPP projects to the public, totaling 281 projects with a total investment of 350 billion yuan, and 78 projects have been successfully signed.
　　This year, the autonomous region has proposed a target of completing 1.5 trillion yuan in fixed asset investment for the whole society, an increase of 50%. Among them, key projects of the autonomous region are to complete an investment of 450 billion yuan, an increase of 50%, especially in the transportation sector, which is to complete an investment of 200 billion yuan. The transportation department of the autonomous region encourages innovative use of the PPP model, actively attracts large groups and large enterprises and other social capital to participate, and accelerates the implementation and commencement of PPP projects.