Warm Congratulations on the Completion and Opening to Traffic of the North Outer Ring Road in Anqing, Anhui

--A PPP Paragon for Municipal Engineering of Public Benefit in China

On September 28, on the occasion of the advent of the 67th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the construction of the north outer ring road invested, built and operated by UCD as a PPP project and praised by the residents of Anqing as “the most beautiful landscape road” was completed and opened to traffic. Passing through mountains and lakes, with 7 water bridges over the beautiful Shitang Lake and Pogang Lake and 5 flyovers connecting the main municipal roads, the north outer ring road, as long as 14.93 kilometers, traverses the old urban areas and the new urban areas in the east of Anqing, making “Anqing Model” the first PPP municipal engineering of pure public benefit in China.

By “keeping to the point” accurately in the supply-side structural reform, the Anqing municipal government has chosen the PPP model to conduct the construction and operation of the north outer ring road. On April 8, 2015, depending on its brand in the urban construction, Beijing UCD won the bidding of the project at one fell swoop and jointly set up the project management company, thereby bringing about the co-operation between the government and the social capital for the first time in projects of pure public benefit.

The PPP model has provided impetus for the Anqing municipal government to streamline administration and delegate powers to lower level governments, and has changed the dual identity of the government acting as both “judge” and “athlete” in infrastructure construction in the past. In the construction of the north outer ring road, the Anqing municipal government acted no longer as “athlete” but as “supervisor”. The government was only committed to the supervision of the quality, safety, progress and cost of the project, leaving the project management company held responsible for the financing, construction and 11-year operation of the project.

“The PPP project of north outer ring road of Anqing is an important integral part of the modern urban transport facilities of Anqing, and is the first PPP project of municipal roads of public benefit in Anhui Province and even across China, being of great and far-reaching exemplary significance. Winning the bidding of the project, UCD has applied the PPP model to municipal road projects of public benefit for the very first time. By adhering to high-efficiency investment, high-standard construction, management with higher demands, and by dint of scientific planning, meticulous management, UCD overcame lots of difficulties, such as the long engineering front, numerous drainage systems, complicated geological conditions and extreme weather conditions, and made the road open to traffic 8 months ahead of time.” UCD General Manager Wang Hanjun believed that the construction, operation and maintenance in the full life circle have forced UCD to constantly improve its meticulous management level.

Innovatively, UCD set up the three-level management model, including the project management company, the project department and the six construction divisions and, on the basis of the existing third-party quality testing agency, UCD brought in the fourthparty testing agency. It took only 16 months for UCD to complete the whole project, creating the Anqing Speed under the PPP model. Currently, the project has passed the mid-term acceptance check of the Great Wall Cup conducted by the Beijing municipal engineering agency. Concerned governments and enterprises intended to implement PPP projects from across the country came to Anqing one after another for empathic learning.

“The construction of the north outer ring road has been all the way transparent and standardized, with the ROI mechanism being perfect and supervisory responsibilities clear and explicit.” During the NPC and CPPCC convened this year, it is pointed out in the proposal submitted by the central committee of China Association for Promoting Democracy that the north outer ring road of Anqing is a paragon for the whole country in implementing real PPP projects. Also, the Ministry of Finance has listed the project as one of the second batch of PPP demonstration projects nationwide.

The completion and opening to traffic of the north outer ring road of Anqing is the end of the project construction as well as the starting point for the operation of the project. UCD will continue to adhere to higher standards and strict requirements, and conduct better operation and maintenance work with a rigorous attitude, so as to make proper contribution to the construction and operation of road networks in Anqing and to facilitating the travel for residents of Anqing.