ICBC Makes 54 Billion Yuan Fixed-asset Loans in 1st Half-yearIn the first half of this year, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) granted loans of 54 billion Yuan (about 7 billion US dollars) to fixed-asset investment projects, up 47 percent from the same period last year.A spokesman for the ICBC said that 26.2 billion yuan went to highways, electricity, urban construction and other infrastructure projects, accounting for 49 percent of the total, and 27.8 billion yuan was for enterprise technological upgrading and high-tech projects, accounting for 51 percent. In the first six months, the bank doubled its fixed-asset loans to the country's western part compared with the same period of last year. He said that in the past two years, the ICBC has provided considerable loans to the state's key infrastructure projects in an effort to support the state's policies of expanding domestic demand and promoting economic growth. Since 1998, the ICBC has granted loans totaling 170 billion yuan to infrastructure projects, including 60.5 billion yuan for 116 key infrastructure construction projects. The bank has also supported the technological upgrading of key state-owned enterprises, having lent 43 billion yuan so far to 440 such projects. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/ |