China policy bank plans over $60b of poverty relief loans

BEIJING -- China Development Bank (CDB), a major policy bank, plans to lend 400 billion yuan (about $63.8 billion) to support targeted poverty relief projects this year.

The loans will be used to fund infrastructure construction, relocate poor residents, develop local industries, and improve education and health care in poverty-stricken areas, according to the bank.

It said it has extended 919 billion yuan of loans in the past five years for targeted poverty relief projects in 987 poor counties.

Founded in 1994, the CDB is designed to provide finance to major national projects and development strategies. It has become the world's largest development finance institution.

The Chinese government aims to lift over 10 million people out of poverty in 2018, including relocating 2.8 million people from inhospitable areas.

More than 68.5 million rural people were lifted out of poverty in China between the end of 2012 and the end of 2017. The national poverty rate fell from 10.2 percent to 3.1 percent.

China is aiming to eliminate poverty by 2020 in a bid to create a "moderately prosperous society."

Policy makers have listed poverty alleviation as one of the country's "three tough battles" for the next three years, along with risk prevention and pollution control.