North China's Shanxi province has rolled out a slew of measures to stimulate private investment, according to a circular recently issued by the general office of the Shanxi provincial government. 

The circular regulates 30 optimization measures involving eight areas, such as access to energy, public electricity charging facilities, transportation, municipal administration and public services, culture, tourism, healthcare and wellness, and manufacturing sectors, project construction guarantee, as well as the implementation of policies. 

As the first and only pilot region for the comprehensive reform of the energy industry in China, Shanxi encourages the participation of private enterprises in wind power and photovoltaic projects, and urges State-owned enterprises to offer at least 10 percent of project equity to attract private investment. 

The province is also accelerating the development of distributed photovoltaic power generation projects, especially for solar panels on building rooftops, along transportation corridors, in provincial-level development zones, and in 26 pilot areas, while attracting a diverse range of investors to support development and operations. 

Local governments of cities and counties are required to carefully map out the layout of public power charging infrastructure networks, align them with land, power, and transportation plans, and support private enterprises in developing and operating public power charging facilities.

Shanxi has implemented a unified national "negative list" for market access, and improved approval and regulatory mechanisms for items on the list. By the end of 2023, online handling is expected to be available for most of the items and a dispatching and evaluation mechanism for promoting private investment will be established.