CDB's urbanization loans near 1t yuan in 2013

BEIJING - China Development Bank (CDB) lent 996.8 billion yuan ($163 billion), two third of its total loans in 2013, to boost urbanization, the bank said on Sunday.

Hu Huaibang, chairman of the CBD board, said the bank will continue to support key national projects like urbanization, subsidized housing, industrial restructuring and global cooperation in 2014.

CBD is a State-owned financial institution with responsibility of providing medium- to long-term financing for the national economic strategy.

Special-purpose loans from CBD for renovation and renewal of dilapidated areas increased 36 percent to 106 billion yuan last year. Over 100 billion yuan went on railway construction.

Lending for subsidized housing stood at 162.8 billion yuan in 2013, while loans for emerging and cultural sectors totaled 241.7 billion yuan and 44.4 billion yuan, respectively.

As for international business, CDB issued over $100 billion of foreign exchange loans, with the loan balance for international business at $292.2 billion in 2013.

By the end of 2013, the bank's total assets surpassed eight trillion yuan, with its loan balance at 7.04 trillion yuan and outstanding bonds at 5.9 trillion yuan.

The non-performing loans ratio was 0.48 percent at the end of 2013, marking 35 straight quarters with the figure below one percent.