Abstract: Current researches on sustainability mostly focus on economic, social and environmental fields, among which the public-private partnership (PPP) project in water environment governance receive inadequate attention. In the present study, structural equation modeling (SEM) is employed to study the factors affecting the sustainability of PPP project in water environment governance from aspects of economy, society, resources and environment, engineering and project management by constructing a complete set of sustainability evaluation index system. In addition, a method for calculating the weight of each indicator is defined, and the indicators that have the greatest impact on project sustainability in the aforementioned five aspects are identified as follows: sustainable cash flow, public satisfaction, standard-reaching rate of river sectional water quality, renewal capacity of project facilities, and organization structure. The research findings offer reliable reference for the public and private sector to take appropriate measures to improve the sustainability level of PPP project of water environment governance.

Key words: water environment governance, PPP, sustainability, influencing factors, structural equation modeling(SEM)