The implementation of the new infrastructure plan for the 14th Five-Year Plan has been accelerating, and investment in many areas such as 5G operation has attracted much attention. In recent years, the Central Economic Work Conference and the government work report have repeatedly proposed to speed up the construction of new infrastructure. New infrastructure is also the focus of my country's construction during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, and the "Outline" of the "14th Five-Year Plan" makes clear arrangements for this. In order to enable all parties to better understand the situation of new infrastructure construction during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the National Development and Reform Commission has organized relevant experts and scholars to express opinions on hot issues. In this issue, the theme "New infrastructure construction calls for a new investment and financing system".

New-type infrastructure construction includes information infrastructure, integrated infrastructure, and innovative infrastructure. It is a strategic cornerstone supporting the development of new business formats, new industries, and new services. It is to lead a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, and to create a new medium and long-term economic development. Pilot layout of kinetic energy. The Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core attaches great importance to the construction of new infrastructure, and has made overall arrangements to promote the construction of new infrastructure such as 5G, data centers, and artificial intelligence. During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, new infrastructure construction bucked the trend under the impact of the epidemic and became a key area of investment in the "two new and one heavy" investment areas. More than 20 provinces across the country issued plans to implement new infrastructure construction.

1. Investment and financing of new infrastructure construction has distinctive features

The construction of new infrastructure is both current and future-oriented investment. The construction of new infrastructure combines short-term demand with long-term potential growth opportunities and brings unprecedented development opportunities in many industries and fields. According to estimates by relevant research institutions, the scale of my country’s new infrastructure investment in 2020 will exceed one trillion yuan. In the future, new infrastructure investment will continue to expand, with investment growth reaching double-digits, and the proportion of infrastructure investment will gradually increase to 15%-20% Around 2025, the cumulative investment scale is expected to reach 20 trillion yuan. Different from the investment and financing methods of traditional infrastructure construction, the investment and financing methods of new infrastructure construction are obviously unique.

(1) The scale of investment and financing for new infrastructure construction has become more differentiated. The scale of investment and financing of new infrastructure construction projects ranges from hundreds of thousands to hundreds of billions of yuan. Projects are more diverse, broader in scope, more decentralized, and more technologically advanced. You cannot simply apply one or more of traditional infrastructure construction. A model of investment and financing.

(2) The investment and financing entities of new infrastructure construction are more diversified. Traditional infrastructure construction such as highways, railways, and airports are mostly invested by governments, local platform companies or large state-owned enterprises. The investment entities for new infrastructure construction are mainly communications operators, Internet platform companies, and other social investment institutions. Local governments participate in the investment and construction of integrated infrastructure.

(3) The investment and financing operations of new infrastructure construction have become more market-oriented. The traditional infrastructure construction operation model is relatively fixed, and a relatively mature charging model and pricing mechanism have been formed. Income is obtained through service charges, franchising, financial subsidies, land compensation, etc., fixed assets such as land and facilities are used as collateral, and bonds are used , Credit, leasing, trust and other financial instruments to obtain social funds. New infrastructure can effectively stimulate new industry and market demands, continuously expand application scenarios, break through technical bottlenecks, and verify business models. This determines that the investment and financing of new infrastructure construction is more market-oriented.

2. Investment and financing of new infrastructure construction faces many challenges

New infrastructure construction is a trillion-level emerging investment and financing area. Various localities are actively deploying and promoting new infrastructure construction, but they still face difficulties such as "who will invest", "how to invest" and "where does the money come". Government guidance has not yet been formed. The investment and financing structure of enterprise-led and market-operated investment and financing.

(1) The construction of new infrastructure has a greater risk of technological iteration. The construction of new infrastructure includes hardware facilities such as 5G base stations, data center facilities, and charging piles, as well as software facilities such as network platforms and operating systems. New-generation information technology updates such as 5G, artificial intelligence, and blockchain on which the new infrastructure depends The speed is fast and the iteration cycle is short. However, the initial investment of new infrastructure such as base station facilities and data centers is large, the recovery of funds is slow, and the risk of investment uncertainty is greater, which affects the enthusiasm of social capital to enter the construction of new infrastructure.

(2) Traditional investment entities face restrictions on investing in new infrastructure. Governments and banks at all levels are the main investment entities in traditional infrastructure projects. Governments at all levels provide special financial support for infrastructure projects by issuing special bonds and increasing the deficit rate. With increasing supervision and control, governments at all levels have restricted their incremental investment in the construction of new infrastructure. However, new infrastructure construction projects are generally asset-light and lack collateral, making it difficult to adapt to the requirements of bank loans for collateral.

(3) There are uncertainties in the profit model of new infrastructure construction. The value of information infrastructure construction lies in “use” rather than “building”. Due to the low degree of informatization and equipment networking in many industries and enterprises, the state of “information islands” has not been completely broken, and it faces barriers such as data sharing and business cooperation. Innovation and integration infrastructure has strong social welfare attributes and positive externalities. Social capital is restricted by funds, technology and talents, and its participation in new infrastructure applications is not high and the initiative is not strong, which limits the effectiveness of new infrastructure Market size.

3. Establish a sound investment and financing system for new infrastructure construction

New-type infrastructure construction “can’t wear new shoes and follow the old path”, it is necessary to give full play to the guiding and leading role of government funds in investment, make full use of market means, exert market power, broaden sources of funds, innovate investment and financing methods, and effectively mobilize the enthusiasm of social capital to participate and accelerate Construct a new infrastructure investment and financing model guided by the government, led by enterprises, and operated by the market.

(1) Innovate the mode of government capital investment. In accordance with the principle of "funds follow the project, and projects follow the plan", we will guide all regions to speed up the planning and project reserves of new infrastructure construction. Establish a national, provincial and municipal fund linkage mechanism to increase support for the construction of new infrastructure. Make good use of central budgetary investment, central special construction funds and local government special bond funds, give full play to the guiding role of government funds "four or two allocations", and continue to attract the market through industrial guidance funds, guarantee funds, trust funds, and social capital cooperation (PPP) Capital participates in the construction of new infrastructure. Include new infrastructure products and services such as cloud computing, big data, and artificial intelligence in the government procurement catalog. Support new infrastructure construction projects through tax incentives and financial subsidies. For example, Tianjin raises capital for new infrastructure projects through special bonds, and leverages the role of fiscal funds to attract social capital to invest in new infrastructure.

(2) Innovating financial credit investment models. In view of the characteristics of large investment in new infrastructure construction, strong professionalism, and high risks, financial institutions are guided to carry out financial product innovation. Encourage development financial institutions to take full advantage of the comprehensive financial advantages of "investment, loan, debt, lease certificate" and provide financial services for the entire industry chain related to the construction of new infrastructure. In view of the large initial investment in new infrastructure-related technology projects and the long R&D cycle, commercial financial institutions are supported to develop new models such as equity fund investment, investment-loan linkage products, and "soft loans + options". Establish special preferential interest rate credit projects for new infrastructure construction, and increase medium and long-term loans for new infrastructure construction. For example, financial institutions in Zhejiang Province innovated and differentiated financial services to effectively solve the financing problems of new infrastructure enterprises.

(3) Innovative investment and financing products and services. In view of the characteristics of new infrastructure construction involving the length of the industrial chain, it is encouraged to give play to the radiating and leading role of leading enterprises on upstream and downstream, and to extend the financial service chain of new infrastructure construction. For example, Hebei, Shanghai, Shanxi and other places have improved the efficiency of new infrastructure financing services by establishing a long-term mechanism for government-bank-enterprise docking. Encourage qualified new infrastructure projects to actively participate in the pilot projects of real estate investment trust funds (REITs) in the infrastructure sector, and activate existing assets to form a virtuous circle of investment. According to relevant institutions, in the 60 years since the birth of REITs, it has now developed into more than 40 countries and regions including the United States, Australia, Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong. The basic assets have gradually expanded from commercial properties to transportation, energy, retail, medical, etc. For example, the market value of US REITs in 2019 reached about one trillion US dollars.

(4) Innovative enterprises participate in investment and financing mechanisms. Support enterprises in the field of new infrastructure construction to enter the capital market, especially listing on the Science and Technology Innovation Board and the Growth Enterprise Market, and support the listing and financing of the "New Third Board" and regional equity markets. Liberalize market access for investment in new infrastructure projects, broaden investment channels and liberalize investment restrictions for enterprises and social capital. Implement a negative list of market access, give various market entities fair opportunities to participate, scientifically and reasonably determine the investment qualifications of new infrastructure projects, and do not set up registered capital, asset scale, bank deposit certificates or certificates that exceed the actual needs of new infrastructure projects Conditions such as the letter of intent for financing, do not set access conditions that have nothing to do with the investment, financing, construction, and operation of new infrastructure projects.

(5) Foster a closed loop of sustainable investment income. Explore the application scenarios of new infrastructure, plan sustainable business models, promote the coordinated development of new infrastructure and supporting industries, promote the industrial economy to feed back the construction of new infrastructure, and give play to the "multiplier effect" and "fission function" of new infrastructure construction . In 5G networks, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, industrial Internet and other fields, strengthen the coordinated development of new infrastructure construction and application scenarios, and build an industrial chain based on scenario applications to share revenue and profit. Editor/Xu Shengpeng