BEIJING — China has approved 223 public-private-partnership (PPP) projects worth 815 billion yuan ($128 billion) since the end of 2013, an official said on Oct 27.

However, the country still lacks of professionals in the field and more support is needed from local governments, said Zhou Chengyue with the Ministry of Finance.

PPPs are collaborative projects between governments and private companies that are mainly funded and operated by the latter.

China is turning to PPPs to bridge a huge financing shortfall in infrastructure construction, which it hopes will temper the economic slowdown caused largely by the property downturn. Such partnerships are also believed to improve public products and services.