BEIJING, May 5 (Xinhua) -- China's State Council released on Sunday a regulation on government investment to deepen the reform on the country's investment and financing mechanism and enhance law-based administration.
The regulation, made public through a State Council decree signed by Premier Li Keqiang, will go into effect on July 1.
It clearly defines the scope of government investment to ensure the investment focuses on key areas and goes where it is targeted.
Government investment should be channeled to the public sectors where resources cannot be effectively allocated by the market, and mainly target non-operational projects, according to the regulation.
A mechanism of regular assessment and adjustments will be established to constantly optimize the scope and structure of government investment, it says.
The regulation also clarifies major principles and basic requirements of government investment, stressing the need of making rational investment decisions, having standardized management, being result-oriented, staying open and transparent as well as aligning with economic and social development and public finance.
According to the regulation, the government and relevant departments are prohibited from raising investment funds through illegal borrowing and should treat all investors equally when allocating government investment funds.
It also regulates and optimizes the decision-making procedures for government investment, standardizes the approval mechanism for government investment and consolidates the binding effect of investment estimates.
For major projects, procedures such as evaluations by intermediary service agencies, public participation, expert assessment, and risk evaluations must be performed, it says.
The regulation also sets requirements on making annual plans on government investment and tightens the supervision both during and after the implementation of relevant projects.
