China's State Development Bank (SDB), which supports government investment in infrastructure, said on November 4 it issued a total of 69.7 billion yuan worth of loans over the first nine months of the year, accounting for 51 percent of the scheduled amount for 1999.

By the end of September, the bank had made plans for granting 132.8 billion yuan worth of loans, according to sources from the ongoing seminar of directors of SDB branches.

Nearly 85 percent of the planned loans were assigned to projects in key industries on top of the priority list of the government, including electricity, highway, railway, urban development, oil and petrochemicals.

The bank received a total repayment of 39.48 billion yuan in the nine months, accomplishing 97.5 percent of its plan.

The bank also raised 91.2 billion yuan worth of funds, including the issuance of 500 million US dollars worth of global bonds on the international market.

SDB Governor Chen Yuan said at the seminar that the bank will begin to implement reform in the loan issuance system by the end of the year.

He urged the bank branches to keep up the schedule of loan issuance for the year and strive for higher ratio of loan repayment. (Xinhua)