Risk management of Shanghai's privately financed Yan'an Donglu tunnels

The build-operate-transfer (BOT) arrangement is becoming one of the prevailing ways for infrastructure development in China to meet the needs of China's future economic growth and development. Despite tremendous opportunities, the undertaking of infrastructure business in China involves many risks and problems which are mainly caused by China's embryonic legal structure and immature economic market. Further strategies in risk allocation and management are especially important for successful investments in China. Choosing the right path for a BOT project investment is crucial since each project involves different legal rights, different obligations and different risk implications. The present paper describes the structuring and risk allocation, as well as the Government guarantees in a China BOT transport project, the Shanghai Yan'an Donglu Second Tunnel (YD2nd Tunnel). It is also the first BOT project implemented in Shanghai. The project features and the guarantees provided by the Government are described in the present paper.