China to private enterprises: invest in cross-border infrastructure like AIIB is doing

China will significantly encourage private enterprises to participate in infrastructure projects, including cross-border connectivity initiatives championed by the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Minister of Finance Lan Foan said at the lender’s annual meeting.

As the global economy slows and international development aid declines, developing countries are increasingly constrained by limited public resources for connectivity investments, Lan said at the meeting in Beijing on Wednesday.

“Mobilising the potential of private capital for cross-border infrastructure, and building sustainable financing mechanisms, have become pressing priorities,” he noted.

To ensure that the private sector remains confident and willing to invest, Lan also called for efforts to reduce lingering concerns about risks related to geopolitics and defaults, and to improve ratings and expected returns of infrastructure projects through coordination with other regional development institutions.

And the further mobilisation of private capital could help overcome the bottleneck of insufficient public investment for infrastructure development, he said.