Loan Agreement Signed for Shuohuang RailwayThe China Export and Import Bank (Eximbank) announced Monday that it has signed an agreement with the Shenhua (Group) Co. Ltd. on the re-loaning of government loans in Japanese yen for the railway project from Shuoxian to Huanghua (Shuohuang).The contract is valued at 11.581 billion yen. The Shuohuang Railway Project is a major part of China's second railway for transporting coal from Western China to coastal areas in the east, which is of strategic importance for accelerating economic development in the west and ensuring energy supplies in coastal areas. A spokesman for the Eximbank said that to date the bank has re- loaned 114.481 billion yen to the Shenhua Group, and the loans signed this time will be used for purchasing 20 power locomotives and 3,000 coal carriages. He said that over the past five years the Eximbank has handled foreign government loans from 16 countries and the Northern European Investment Bank, and priority has been given to the western regions of China in distributing these loans. Last year the Eximbank ratified foreign government loans of 1. 585 billion US dollars, with an outstanding amount of 17.029 billion US dollars by the end of 2000. |
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