CHINA> National
China increases preferential credit to ASEAN
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-10-24 21:51

HUA HIN, Thailand: China will raise the preferential part of the commercial credit it offers to Southeast Asian nations by $5 billion, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Saturday.

Related readings:
China increases preferential credit to ASEAN Wen makes six-point proposal on co-op with ASEAN
China increases preferential credit to ASEAN ASEAN looks forward to realization of ASEAN-China FTA
China increases preferential credit to ASEAN ASEAN issues 2 documents on climate, education co-op
China increases preferential credit to ASEAN China, ASEAN leaders meet to boost regional co-op
The perferential part of the $15-billion credit, as a result, will increase to $6.7 billion, Wen said at a summit with dialogue partners from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) here.

"We made the offer to demonstrate our support for China-ASEAN cooperation in infrastructure construction," he said.

China unveiled the plan to offer $15 billion of commercial credit to the ASEAN countries in April. The credit is to be provided in the next three to five years.

In a move to showcase China's efforts to further ties with its Southeast Asian neighbors, China has also rolled out a plan to set up a China-ASEAN investment cooperation fund of $10 billion. The fund is designed to promote cooperation on infrastructure construction, energy and resources, information and communications.

Wen said at the summit Saturday that the first $1billion of the fund was close to being in place.

The Chinese premier also made a number of other proposals to advance cooperation with the ASEAN in fields such as the economy, finance, trade, environment, rural development and regional cooperation.