Agribusiness

North Andre

In 2006, IFC made a US$4.5 million equity investment in North Andre Apple Concentrate Juice Company following its US$15 million loan financing to the company in 2005. North Andre was established in 1996 in Shandong and has quickly developed into a leading producer and exporter in the Chinese and global apple juice concentrate industry. The IFC loan will assist North Andre to complete the ongoing expansion of its production facilities across major apple production regions in China especially in western regions in keeping with China's policy to develop its western interior provinces where economic development lags behind the rest of the country. The investment will upgrade North Andre's production efficiencies and increase its capacity to process about 1 million tons of apples annually. IFC's funding will also serve to strengthen the Company's capital structure and about 2 million apple farming families benefit directly from North Andre's process production in China.

To help North Andre expand the support it provides to local farmers, IFC will provide a three-year US$750,000 supply chain linkages technical assistance program. The program will promote good agricultural practice in the Chinese apple sector by improving farm management and occupational health and safety conditions for workers; reducing environmental impact of agro-chemicals; and lowering the amount of solid and liquid waste disposal. The technical assistance program will introduce traceability in North Andre's apple supply chain, enabling it to meet the expectations of global food producers who are under increasing regulatory and consumer pressure to ensure food traceability along supply chains.

Infrastructure

Zhongda Hydro

In 2006, IFC provided a long term loan of US$22 million to Yunnan Zhongda Yanjin Power Generation Co. Ltd. IFC, along with DEG, Proparco, and FE Global/Asia Clean Energy, is working with the project sponsor to support the construction and operation of three run-of-the-river power stations along the White Water River in Yunnan Province, China. The total installed capacity is 78 MW.

This is IFC's first investment in Yunnan, a less developed western province in China. The project will create jobs and consume substantial amounts of materials and services locally that will provide a boost to the local economy. The project will also have a demonstration effect and is expected to attract more investors to Yunnan and other western provinces.

The project supports a national policy of developing hydro power resources and substitute for coal fired generation. The project is expected to provide approximately 380 GWh per year of clean energy to ease the power shortage problem in Southern China, and reduce an estimated total of 8 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions over 30 years of operations.

Yunnan Zhongda currently holds six existing small hydro stations, with an aggregate installed capacity of 18.5 MW. The key sponsor of the project is Zhongda Sanchuan Hydro Development Co., Ltd., a domestic holding company based in Zhejiang province that develops, owns and operates small hydro assets in China.

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