China is to encourage private investment in logistics industries as part of the country's efforts to boost the economy with funding from outside the banking system.

A detailed plan will be officially released "in the near future," China's top economic planner, the National Development and Reform Commission, said on its website yesterday.

The move follows a State Council decision to allow private funding in state-dominated public service industries. The logistics industries plan will be the latest in a series of central government documents covering banking, health care, railways and transportation.