ADB Approves Railway Loan to ChinaThe Asian Development Bank approved Thursday to provide a 300 million US dollar loan to China to help the country build a new railway linking four interior provinces.According to a press release of the ADB, the 2.8-billion-dollar Hefei-Xi'an Railway Project involves constructing a 954-km single-track railway and 52 new stations linking the provinces of Anhui, Henan, Hubei and Shaanxi. The ADB said the project, scheduled for completion by December 2005, is in line with the Chinese government's push to develop the poor interior. "The lower transport costs are expected to attract new industries to the interior to develop natural and agriculture resources as well as associated businesses and commerce," said the ADB, adding that the project alone will create over half a million jobs. The new line's link with four north-south railways will also increase the efficiency of China's rail sector, the ADB pointed out. The ADB is financing some 11 percent of the project cost and the remainder will come from the Ministry of Railways and the China Development Bank. The ADB loan will come from its ordinary capital resources with a repayable period of 25 years, including a grace period of 5 years. |
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