First project financed by BRICS New Development Bank starts operation

SHANGHAI - The first project financed by the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) started operation Saturday in Shanghai.

The 525 million yuan ($76 million) loan with a maturity length of 17 years was granted to Shanghai Lingang Distributed Solar Power Project, under an agreement jointly signed by the NDB, the Ministry of Finance and Shanghai municipal government in December 2016.

A distributed solar photovoltaic power system with a total capacity of 100 megawatts will be built on the rooftops of factories in Lingang Industrial Area. On Saturday, the first stage with a 6.8-megawatt capacity was launched.

The NDB was founded by BRICS, which is made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, during the bloc's sixth summit in Fortaleza of Brazil in July 2014 and formally opened in Shanghai in July 2015.

It was created with the objective of financing infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS countries and other emerging economies and developing countries.

The bank approved its first series of loans worth $811 million in April 2016. Currently, four of the bank's loan projects are in China.