In April 2015, the Jilin Provincial Government, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, and the China Development Bank jointly reached a consensus to designate Jilin Province as a national pilot province for urban underground utility tunnel construction, and in July, a tripartite cooperation framework agreement was formally signed. Jilin Province has implemented urban underground utility tunnel construction as a "No. 1 Project," clarifying the working approach of "government promotion, enterprise-led, market operation, and social participation," and determined that by 2020, the province will start construction of 1,000 kilometers of underground utility tunnels with an investment of 100 billion yuan. Through the pilot province construction, the province aims to explore a sustainable management system and operational mechanism for urban underground utility tunnels, initially establish a coordinated development pattern of trunk, branch, and cable utility tunnels, and provide replicable and promotable experience for the national comprehensive advancement of urban underground utility tunnel construction.

In 2015, a total of 15 cities in Jilin Province started construction on 25 road sections, totaling 94.26 kilometers, forming 24.75 kilometers of tunnel body, with a cumulative project investment of nearly 3.347 billion yuan. During the advancement process, Governor Jiang Chaoliang communicated multiple times with the main leaders of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Ministry of Finance, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the China Development Bank, receiving high attention from relevant national ministries and commissions. To ensure the steady progress of the work, in 2015, provincial government leaders held seven meetings to listen to reports, conduct special studies, and promote utility tunnel construction; and issued the "Implementation Opinions on Accelerating the Construction of Urban Underground Utility Tunnels in Jilin Province," providing overall guidance for the province's utility tunnel construction. A performance assessment mechanism and a ten-day reporting system were established to ensure comprehensive supervision and oversight during the construction process.

City governments are very active in comprehensive utility tunnel construction and have all established specialized leadership bodies. 37 cities in the province have compiled comprehensive utility tunnel construction plans, and various tasks such as engineering design, bidding, and social capital negotiations are being advanced simultaneously. Among them, Siping City ranks first in the province in construction volume, with rapid start and fast progress, adopting cutting-edge technologies such as BIM, drones, and 3D laser scanners for design and construction organization, improving project quality and efficiency; Songyuan City took the lead in drafting the "Underground Comprehensive Utility Tunnel PPP Project Company Structure," leading the province in financing models and playing a good exemplary role in the province's utility tunnel construction.

Jilin Province's utility tunnel construction differs from other pilot cities in that it must adopt the PPP model and use loans from the China Development Bank and the Agricultural Development Bank to implement engineering construction without central financial support. This is a new challenge for city governments and the China Development Bank and the Agricultural Development Bank. To solve the problem of capital funds in various localities, the provincial finance department has planned 15 billion yuan for capital investment in the construction of 1,000 kilometers of utility tunnels. Last year, a total of 2.37 billion yuan was allocated to cities that had started construction. At the same time, the Jilin Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development actively planned for connections between various localities and large central enterprises and financial institutions.

In 2016, Jilin Province aims to expand the number of construction cities and construction volume while fully completing the continuation tasks from last year. In the first half of the year, provincial leaders held seven special meetings on comprehensive utility tunnels, conducting in-depth research on key node issues in the advancement of utility tunnel construction in Jilin Province and deploying arrangements for 2016 construction work. The Jilin Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development successively organized provincial utility tunnel scheduling meetings, "one-on-one" matchmaking meetings, and on-site utility tunnel construction meetings. It was confirmed that the total volume of urban underground comprehensive utility tunnel projects in the province for 2016 is: 25 cities with 73 new road sections, totaling 160 kilometers, with a planned investment of 17 billion yuan; and 39 continuation road sections, totaling 78.42 kilometers, with a planned investment of 9.199 billion yuan. As of now, among the 39 continuation road sections in 16 cities across the province, 25 road sections in 13 cities have resumed construction, completing 1,347 meters of bottom slab pouring, basically forming 1,116 meters of tunnel body, with a cumulative investment of 197.2 million yuan. On April 16, the new road section in Baishan City started construction, being the first new road section to start in the province this year; it has now formed 242 meters of tunnel body, with 8,435 cubic meters of earthwork and an investment of 9 million yuan.

On March 29, the Siping City Urban Underground Comprehensive Utility Tunnel Construction and Operation Co., Ltd., jointly funded and established by Siping Urban Development Investment Holding Co., Ltd. and five central enterprises, was officially established, becoming the first utility tunnel SPV company in Jilin Province. The Jilin Provincial Finance Department plans to raise 1.8 billion yuan in special funds this year, totaling 4.17 billion yuan over two years, which can solve the capital fund problem for SPV companies in various localities. With the efforts of the China Development Bank Jilin Branch, the China Development Bank adopted a mechanism review approach and granted a credit line of 22.342 billion yuan over two years to nine cities in Jilin Province. In addition, the Jilin Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development has successively reached intention agreements with financial institutions such as Agricultural Bank of China Jilin Branch, Agricultural Development Bank of China Jilin Branch, and China Construction Bank Jilin Branch to support Jilin Province's utility tunnel construction, broadening the financing channels for utility tunnel construction in Jilin Province.