China Development Bank to issue B&R project loans in three years

BEIJING - China Development Bank (CDB), the country's largest development bank, said on Thursday that it will take about three years to issue loans to projects related to the Belt and Road Initiative.

The CDB set up a special lending plan worth 250 billion yuan ($36.7 billion) in mid-May to support B&R cooperation on infrastructure, industrial capacity and financing.

The CDB's assets total over 14 trillion yuan and it has more than 500 projects in B&R regions worth over $350 billion, according to Liang Huijiang, a senior official with CDB.

"We have abundant capital to support the lending plan and concrete projects for the financing service," he added.

The CDB will enhance cooperation with other financial institutions at home and abroad and hopes to attract more private financing to participate in B&R projects, Liang said.

The CDB inked a memorandum with Deutsche Bank on Wednesday to seek cooperation under the B&R Initiative, including an initial project cooperation plan worth about $3 billion over five years.

Efforts will be taken to develop scientific development plans based on specific conditions of different countries and sectors as well as targeted plans for risk control, he added.