BEIJING - China's Ministry of Finance on Thursday published a new group of public-private partnership (PPP) demonstration projects with a total investment value of 1.17 trillion yuan ($174.6 billion).

This is the third batch of such demonstration projects following two groups of projects worth 658.9 billion yuan in 2015 and 180 billion yuan in 2014, as the country tries to stimulate social capital to battle the economic downturn.

The 516 newly-announced projects cover energy, transport, water conservation, agriculture and education, the ministry said.

PPPs are collaborative projects between government and private companies.

Chinese authorities have explored funding infrastructure and public works through PPP models since late 2013 amid growing concerns over rising local government debt incurred through local financing vehicles.

In September 2015, the Ministry of Finance started a fund with 180 billion yuan to support PPP projects.