Rhetoric and reality of public-private partnerships in China: A sustainable public procurement perspective

Public-private partnerships (PPPs) is an alternative approach to conventional public procurement (CPP), Much of the research on the rhetoric and reality of PPPs has compared PPPs with CPP with respect to cost, quality, timeliness of project delivery, and risk transfer, and little to sustainable public procurement (SPP). This study is intended to address this research gap by unveiling certain implementation patterns of SPP in PPPs compared to CPP. It also explored the complex theoretical and practical connections between policy and implementation of PPPs and reached mixed conclusions. In particular, it is found that, while PPPs strongly support green development, flaws in value for money assessment, opportunistic behaviours, and certain distinctive features of PPPs are highly likely to marginalize SMEs and other disadvantaged groups. This study enriches the general discourse on the rhetoric and reality of PPPs by introducing a novel perspective of SPP and informs crucial policy and implementation adaptations for the PPP model. •A new sustainable public procurement perspective is added to the discourse of PPPs.•Green procurement is the core of PPPs and conventional procurement implementation.•PPPs are highly likely to marginalize SMEs and other disadvantaged groups.•Policy interventions and planning efforts required to have more inclusive PPPs.