BEIJING - China will lower the minimum capital ratio requirement for some infrastructure investment projects, state television CCTV said on Wednesday, citing a cabinet meeting chaired by premier Li Keqiang.

The mininum capital investment ratio for ports and shipping infrastructure projects will be lowered to 20% from 25%, while that for highways, railways, environmental protection and social services infrastructure projects can be decided on a case-to-case basis, with the decrease capped at 5%.

Typically, infrastructure projects are financed by both equity and debt, but they need to meet a minimum equity ratio requirement prior to leveraging up through borrowing.

(Reporting by Beijing Monitoring Desk; Writing by Yawen Chen, editing by Louise Heavens) ((yawen.chen@thomsonreuters.com; +86 10 5669 2126; Follow me on Twitter https://twitter.com/ywchen1;))