More public-private partnership (PPP) projects were implemented in the first half of the year as China sought private funding for infrastructure construction, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said Friday.

As of the end of June, 2,021 PPP projects had entered the implementation phase, with a total investment of 3.3 trillion yuan (about 447 billion U.S. dollars), according to the MOF website.

That was up from 1,351 projects and 2.2 trillion yuan of investment as of the end of last year.

The central government is looking to PPP, a collaborative investment model between government and private companies, as a way to fund infrastructure projects amid concerns over high local government debt.

As of the end of June, 13,554 PPP projects were registered nationwide with combined investment of 16.4 trillion yuan, according to the China Public Private Partnerships Center under the MOF.

PPPs have existed in China since the 1980s, but the adoption of the financing mode had been slow until China released two PPP guidelines in 2014.