Loan to Support Environmental ProtectionThe Export-Import Bank of China (China Exim Bank) has agreed to provide 8.17 billion yen (US$65.9 million) of Japanese loans to the Guiyang Environmental Model City Project in Southwest China.The bank Wednesday signed an agreement with the Guizhou Provincial Bureau of Finance in the provincial capital Guiyang. The loans form the remaining part of the fourth batch of Japanese government loans which Guizhou Province has used, a bank spokesman said. The bank signed an agreement in March with the Guizhou finance bureau to provide yen loans of 6.27 billion yuan (US$50.6 million) for the environmental project. The project has used a total of 14.44 billion yen (US$116.5 million), the spokesman said. This time the loans will be used to buy equipment to upgrade the Guiyang Electric Power Generating Plant, the Lindong Clean Coal Project and the Guiyang Environmental Monitoring System. China Exim Bank started granting foreign government loans for domestic clients in 1995, said Yang Zilin, president of the bank. By the end of June this year, the outstanding foreign government loans reached US$15.7 billion. In a move to support the central government's "western development'' strategy, the bank has looked to fund projects such as transportation, energy and environmental protection in western China, he said. The bank has approved foreign government loans worth US$1.6 billion in 2000, which includes 112.5 billion yen (US$907 million) of Japanese government loans. During the first half of this year, the bank granted foreign government loans valued at US$1.6 billion to 32 projects. |
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