The Shanghai Branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) recently established a fund guaranteeing university student loans, thereby enabling 300 poor students to obtain government loans.

The Shanghai municipal student loan guarantee fund is the first of its kind in China. It has received 3.5 million yuan in donations from 50 enterprises and many ICBC employees in Shanghai since it was jointly set up by ICBC and the Shanghai branch of the China Youth Development Foundation (CYDF) earlier this month.

The ICBC is the sole designated agent administering university student loans which the central government launched in eight cities around China last September.

ICBC sources told Xinhua that many university students in these cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, have eagerly applied for the loans. However, many of them are unable to get approval because their families cannot provide adequate guarantees.

Designed to solve this problem, the student loan guarantee fund has now provided guarantees for a total of 3.65 million yuan in loans to poor students in Shanghai.