China to promote PPP in tourism

BEIJING - China will improve services for tourists through public-private partnerships (PPP), according to a guideline released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Ministry of Finance (MOF).

The PPPs, collaborative projects between government and private companies, will give priority to support national tourism projects and poverty-alleviation through tourism.

"The policy will improve infrastructure and public services especially in poor areas such as central and western China," said Liu Jiajun of East China Normal University.

"PPP will speed up the transformation of the tourism business," said Li Qiuyan, director of travel agency Joyo Group.

In February, the MOF published details of PPP projects with a total investment of 760 billion yuan ($125 billion), the fourth round of such investment since 2014.