World Bank Loans to China ApprovedForeign loans are facilitating governmental efforts to protect the environment and improve living standards in China.The World Bank (WB) yesterday approved two loans totalling US$360 million for two projects - the Yangtze Dike Strengthening Project (US$210 million) and the Hubei Water and Environment Project (US$150 million), which will bring great environmental and social benefits to millions of Chinese people in rural and urban areas, it said in a press release. The Yangtze Dike project will help strengthen the banks of the Yangtze River, which is prone to flooding due to erosion. It will also improve sections of existing dikes that are currently in a critical condition in order to protect the properties and lives of people in the provinces of Hunan and Hubei, where 75 million rely on river dikes for flood protection, according to the release. "This project aims to help China improve its systems of flood protection and response, dike management and operation along the Yangtze, in order to help mitigate the terrible social and financial costs a future flood might bring," project task manager Daniel Gunaratnam said in a statement. The last flood of the Yangtze River affected 21 million people and caused US$20 billion in damages, the WB release said. The Hubei Water and Environment Project aims to provide a safe environment to sustain the long-term economic growth of urban areas in the Central China province, it said. The US$293 million project will be financed by a government contribution of US$143 million and the WB loan of US$150 million. In addition to this project, the Export-Import Bank of China (Eximbank), an export-orientated policy bank, yesterday signed a contract with the drinking water supplier in the capital of Southwest China's Yunnan Province, to forward 20.9 billion Japanese yen (US$196 million) of loans from the Japanese Government to finance a water supply project. The project, with a total investment of 3.5 billion yuan (US$421 million), aims to construct a new water supply system with a daily capability of 600,000 tons in Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province. There are also plans to purify water sources and build 99.36 kilometres of pipeline. The project will increase supply capability and improve the quality of drinking water in Kunming and could protect water quality in the local Dianchi Lake, a popular tourist destination, according to an Eximbank press release. |
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