The concept of "government investment project" is a brand-new concept gradually developed with the reform of China's economic system and political system. So far, there is no accurate definition in theory, and there are few provisions in our laws and regulations.

In practice, "government investment projects" are also called "public finance investment projects" or "national construction projects". Broadly speaking, the so-called "public financial investment project" is a project in which "the government invests some concentrated financial funds in all aspects of the social reproduction process in order to realize its functions"; In a narrow sense, it is a project that "the government invests the minimum amount in the reproduction of fixed assets and working capital to ensure the smooth progress of social reproduction". "Public * * * financial investment projects", commonly known as "financial capital investment projects", refers to projects that are approved by government functional departments and invested or partially invested by various financial capital construction funds. The financial capital construction funds include: 1. Capital construction funds in the financial budget; Other expenditures in the budget of capital construction projects; Three, the capital construction project funds included in the budget management; Four, the budget funds for capital construction projects; 5 other financial capital construction funds. "The so-called' national construction projects' refer to capital construction projects and technological transformation projects with state-owned assets as the main body of investment or financing (that is, holding or leading position). "

Based on the above concepts, some scholars and functional departments define "government investment projects" as "fixed assets investment projects with the government as the actual investment subject and financial funds as the source of funds" or "investment projects with governments at all levels as the construction subject". It mainly includes: investment projects with funds (including national debt) inside and outside the fiscal budget; National sovereign foreign debt fund project; Projects using various special construction funds; Other government investment projects stipulated by laws, regulations and the people's government at the corresponding level. "

Although the above two definitions reveal the main connotation of "government investment projects", they are not systematic and accurate enough.

The author believes that the so-called government investment projects refer to administrative, public and public welfare projects led by the government, with the purpose of meeting public needs, with public property and public facilities as the content, and with state-owned assets investment or financing. The main points are as follows:

First, government investment projects are government-led. The so-called "leading" is interpreted as "guiding and guiding things to develop in a certain direction" in Modern Chinese Dictionary. In other words, the government plays a decisive role in the operation of government investment projects and guides the development direction of the projects. There are many subjects involved in investment projects, mainly including construction subjects, investment subjects, design subjects and construction subjects. It is these subjects that constitute the whole process of investment project construction. According to the different management methods of investment projects, these subjects are sometimes unified, but more often they are relatively independent. Generally speaking, the government is the main body of project construction and investment. At this time, the leading role of the government in investment projects is obvious and beyond doubt. However, with the deepening of the political and economic system reform, the government often no longer directly or less invests in projects, but appears as a builder. Under the condition of ensuring the ownership of the project, the management right of the project is transferred to attract construction funds, so that the construction subject and investment subject of government-invested projects will be independent of each other. In this case, for the project itself, the government, as the construction subject, plays a more dominant role than the investment subject, because it determines whether to carry out the project construction, how to carry out the project construction and who will organize the project construction. This is the source of investment project construction, which affects the whole process of investment project construction. Without the government, any other project subject can't be discussed.

Second, the construction of government investment projects is to meet the needs of the public. The reason why the government is in a dominant position in government investment projects is determined by the government's public management function. The public management function of the government comes from the social public demand, which is essentially the function of the government to provide corresponding services according to the objective needs of the public, so as to minimize the negative externalities of society, expand the positive externalities of society, maximize the personal welfare of each member of society and maximize the overall welfare of society. From the form of expression, one of the main contents of government management functions is to organize forces to carry out national defense and army building, infrastructure construction and major scientific and technological research and development. This is what we call the construction of government investment projects, which will inevitably meet the needs of the public and increase the welfare of the public.

Third, government investment projects are built by the government in the form of state-owned assets investment or financing. In the above definition of government investment projects, "capital" is defined as "capital", and the so-called government investment "capital" refers to the direct investment of financial funds by the government. I think this is a narrow understanding of investment. It is true that the investment of financial funds is indeed one of the main ways of government investment, and it was once the only way of government investment in the era of planned economy. However, with the establishment and improvement of China's market economy, it is far from meeting the objective needs of China's infrastructure construction only by relying on the investment of government financial funds. So in recent years, many governments have solved this problem through financing. Although there are various financing methods in different places, there is a common trend, that is, the government no longer relies solely on the investment of financial funds to solve the capital problem of capital construction, but attracts a large number of social funds. At present, the more popular BOT financing mode and ABS financing mode are typical representatives of this trend. The so-called "BOT model" refers to "the concession agreement for the construction and operation of the project provided by the government of the country where the project is located or its affiliated institutions, which is the basis of project financing. Domestic companies or foreign companies, as investors and operators of the project, take risks, develop and construct the project, and operate the project during the concession period to obtain commercial profits. After the franchise expires, the project will be handed over to the corresponding government agencies as agreed, and "ABS mode" is a project financing method, which is based on the assets owned by the proposed project and guaranteed by the future income of the project assets, and raises funds by issuing bonds in the international capital market. As can be seen from the above definition, in these two financing modes, the government no longer directly invests financial funds, but absorbs social funds by transferring the right to use and the right to income of construction projects under certain conditions, that is, the government turns the investment in tangible assets into intangible assets. Accordingly, the author believes that the "capital" of "government investment projects" should be broadly understood and interpreted as "state-owned assets", that is, "the government invests in various forms and its income, donates, accepts gifts, obtains by virtue of state power, or recognizes various properties or property rights according to law".

Fourth, government investment projects are based on public property and public facilities. In the book "Public Finance Management of Local Government Investment Projects-Centralized Payment and Accounting", local government investment projects are divided into four categories: political facilities projects, such as office buildings and prisons of party and government organs; Social welfare projects such as urban roads and urban greening; Social welfare projects, such as libraries, hospitals, stadiums, etc. ; Urban infrastructure projects, such as power plants, water conservancy projects, road traffic, etc. This division accurately summarizes the main contents of government investment projects. According to this classification, it is not difficult to see that the contents of government investment projects are actually public property in administrative public property and public property in public facilities. "Administrative public property" is a concept in administrative law, especially "property owned or managed by administrative subjects for public use". Public property and public facilities public property are one of the concrete manifestations of administrative public property. The so-called public property refers to "public property directly used by administrative subjects to perform administrative tasks and used by administrative officials themselves"; The so-called public property of public facilities refers to "public property owned by the administrative subject and managed by the administrative subject itself or other legal persons to achieve public purposes".

Fifth, government investment projects are administrative, public and public. As mentioned above, government investment projects are led by the government, and are controlled by the government from project initiation to construction to operation. The reason why the government wants to carry out these constructions is determined by its public management function and is a way to perform administrative functions. At the same time, the management and operation of the final products of investment projects is also the main responsibility of the administrative subject-the government. From this point of view, whether it is the government investment project itself or its final product, it has been cast with a strong administrative color. Publicity means that the main purpose of government investment projects is to meet the needs of the public and increase social welfare. Its specific performance is that the final products of government investment projects can directly or indirectly meet the needs of the public and increase social welfare. It is said directly or indirectly because public facilities such as traffic roads, hospitals and water conservancy facilities can directly meet the needs of public facilities and increase social welfare, while public facilities such as party and government office facilities and prisons cannot directly achieve this goal, but the operation of these public facilities can indirectly guarantee or promote the increase of social welfare. Public ownership refers to the right that the final products of government investment projects are owned by the state and the government is the owner. This is determined by the publicity of government investment projects, because the final products of projects are often facilities related to the national economy and people's livelihood, and for the sake of public safety, the ownership of such facilities must never be given to an individual or organization, but must be under the control of public power. Of course, although the government is the owner's right, it does not mean direct management and operation. You can also set up or authorize qualified institutions to manage and operate. The government only carries out macro management and supervision.