Marketisation of public services in China: Reforming the provision of solid waste services in Guangzhou's environmental sector

Since Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) collection and disposal has been a free public service in many Chinese cities, many local governments in China are facing the problem of insufficient funding. A number of municipal authorities in China have adopted marketisation (the Chinese equivalence for privatisation) to relieve local governments' financial burdens in solid waste management. This paper will use the experience of Guangzhou, the third wealthiest city in China, to illustrate how marketisation in waste management is being carried out, what problems it is confronting and what remedial measures are needed to sustain marketisation.