Toward a Refined Framework for Qualitative VfM Assessment in Chinese PPPs: A Comparative Approach

China's extensive experience with PPPs over the past decade offers valuable lessons for international infrastructure governance. Central to the PPP concept is the imperative to deliver Value for Money (VfM), and VfM assessment serves as a critical tool to determine whether the PPP modality is appropriate for a given project. While China's Ministry of Finance (MoF) introduced a qualitative VfM assessment framework in 2015, its conceptual ambiguity, indicator overlap, and procedural inconsistencies have limited its effectiveness in guiding PPP decisions. This paper critically examines the existing Chinese qualitative VfM framework through comparative analysis with two international benchmarks: the UK HM Treasury's three-dimensional VfM approach and the UN ESCAP’s developmental framework for Asia-Pacific countries. Through pair-wise mapping and structural comparison, the study identifies key gaps in the Chinese model, including the absence of a preliminary applicability screening stage and assessment indicators for output clarity, implementation flexibility, project interface complexity, and private sector capability. Drawing on international insights, an optimized VfM framework is proposed, featuring a pre-screening mechanism, a refined indicator system, and enhanced scoring methodology. The framework is applied to a complex, large-scale PPP case in China to test its viability, validity, and interpretability. Results demonstrate that the revised approach enhances analytical clarity, procedural transparency, and policy relevance. The paper concludes by discussing the framework’s broader applicability and its potential contribution to improving PPP governance in China and beyond.