China's top economic planner invites private investment in 36 projects

 China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has recommended 36 investment projects to private enterprises in a bid to further stimulate private investment.

These 36 projects, spanning transportation, logistics, water conservancy and energy, were presented at a recent NDRC symposium involving private enterprises and industry associations.

The projects have a combined estimated investment of 61.4 billion yuan (about 9.06 billion U.S. dollars) and are expected to attract 15.6 billion yuan in private capital. They cover railways, warehousing, wind power, energy storage, charging facilities and water diversion projects, among others.

Private capital can participate through wholly-owned investment, controlling stakes, or equity participation in relevant companies.

The NDRC said it will make full use of its regular communication and problem-solving mechanism in working with private enterprises. It will also work with relevant parties to improve services, strengthen the supply of capital, land and other factors of production, and coordinate efforts to resolve key issues to ensure early implementation of the projects.

It will also establish a regular project recommendation mechanism to expand opportunities for private enterprises to participate in high-quality projects and better facilitate private investment growth.

This project recommendation endeavor comes after official data showed that fixed-asset investment in China fell 6.7 percent year on year in the first seven months of 2026, while private investment dropped by 9.4 percent. Excluding real estate development, private investment declined 5.7 percent in this period. ■