Huge Demand for Foreign Technology and Capital in China Smart City Projects
SHANGHAI, March 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The boom of Smart City projects in China has huge market potential for technology and capital markets. There will be huge demand for advanced foreign technology and foreign funds. According to Gartner and other consulting firms, the building of Smart City projects in China has become a growing trend. However, Chinese government is cautious about working with foreign firms for financial and information security reasons. For any foreign funds and technology providers who want to explore the Chinese market, they will need to go through a long process to build trust with various levels of the Chinese government.
Previously, Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of the People's Republic of China (hereafter MoHURD) released two batches of 193 national smart city pilots, including 76 provincial capital cities/prefecture-level cities, 75 county-level cities, 34 new districts, and 8 towns. About 2,600 projects will be involved, with over RMB 1 trillion investment. The government funding and bank loans constitute approximately 50% of the investment. The balance requires social investment, including international capital. According to "National Smart City (District, Town) Pilots Index System (Trial)" of MoHURD, the "smart governance and service" projects contain the largest amount of projects; the "security system and infrastructure" projects require the largest amount of investments. These projects cover fields of urban public information platform, urban governance, municipal infrastructure and safe operation, urban and rural planning, building energy efficiency, convenience service, and industrial development.
According to Mr. Ding YouLiang, the chief director of Digital City Engineering Research center of Chinese Society for Urban Studies, MoHURD, "through these pilot smart city projects, we've seen the city policy makers' urge to promote the transformation and upgrading of industrial structure, urban construction administration, and urban function elevation."
Mr. Ding YouLiang also noted that smart city construction is a systematic and huge project which requires participation from multiple parties. MoHURD persistently peruse the principle that "Government Guidance, Market Leading, Multiple Subjects, Global Participation". To ensure smooth operation, MoHURD has established the Digital City Engineering Research Center of Chinese Society for Urban Studies, as the major force to promote and guide China Smart City development. It is keen to invite international expertise in operational models, new technology and capital investment. Meanwhile, Digital City Engineering Research center explore actively the innovative investment model and guide multiple capitals for investments.
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SOURCE Smart City Expo & Congress
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