In 2014, the Ministry of Finance of China listed the project as one of the first 30 projects of the national demonstration programme of PPP projects, which gained the attention of more competent heating companies than ever before, enhanced its bankability and drove more competition in the bidding process. The application for the project to be listed in the national demonstration programme had been initiated by the Financial Bureau of Qiaoxi District and then reviewed and submitted by the Financial Bureau of Zhangjiakou Municipality, and subsequently by the Financial Department of Hebei Province to the Ministry of Finance of China.
As the local government does not have the relevant technical and managerial expertise in improving district heating project's efficiency and cost-savings, it relies on the 'know-how' and technical and managerial credentials of specialised market players in the respective field. The PPP contract management has been carried out smoothly at the time of writing the case study.