CDB widens global lending

Overseas loans a testament to dedication to nation's goals

When the Central Bank of Egypt received a loan of $900 million from China Development Bank in January, it was the first time that the institution extended a major credit loan to an overseas central bank.

CDB also extended a $525 million loan to the National Bank of Egypt that month.

The loans were in response to President Xi Jinping's call to advance the Sino-Egypt bilateral relationship and development. During Xi's visit to Egypt on Jan 21, investment and aid deals worth billions of dollars were signed.

Egypt is vital to China's Belt and Road Initiative and the loans will go far to boost bilateral cooperation in finance, electricity, energy and transportation.

The loans also speak to how CDB has made its goal to serve national strategies.

"During the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15), the bank supplied nearly $531 billion in loans in foreign currencies and participated in nearly 150 State visits by both Chinese and foreign government leaders and the signing of hundreds of investment and financing deals," said CDB Chairman Hu Huaibang.

It has conducted business in 109 countries and regions across the world and supported more than 180 Chinese enterprises in their efforts to expand overseas, especially for companies in the mid- and high-end manufacturing, electric power and railway industries. Telecom giant Huawei, for example, with the help of the bank's loans, saw a 10-percent annual growth rate in trade volume with Russia's largest telecom group Sistema.

Trade and economic exchanges are a major highlight of cooperation between China and countries along the Belt and Road routes. In 2015, CDB signed 70 cooperation documents for a combined value of $65 billion in financing plans for energy, minerals, high-tech technologies and transportation infrastructure construction projects.

The bank started to adjust its international business management structure and highlighted the headquarters' direct control over its overseas outlets last year.

In a bid to further promote the internationalization of the renminbi, which is closely attached to the country's Belt and Road Initiative, the bank signed 28 billion yuan ($4.2 billion) in loan agreements with three banks in Russia last year. It also agreed to provide $3 billion in credit lines to three Indonesian banks, 30 percent of which will be settled in the Chinese currency.

The bank has actively promoted the establishment of bilateral and multilateral cooperation mechanisms, and set up many special-purpose loans, including the special facility co-founded by China and Central and Eastern European countries and the China-ASEAN infrastructure loan. By the end of 2015, CDB was committed to nearly $190 billion in loans to countries along the Belt and Road, nearly $156 billion of which was granted.

According to the central government, China will further increase foreign investments and expand the opening of financial markets from 2016 to 2020, two developments that will bring more opportunities for the bank's international business.

With the country accelerating its overseas investments, an increasing number of Chinese companies will enter international markets with proprietary technologies, standards and services to enhance cooperation in production and equipment manufacturing.

CDB will further deepen cooperation with local companies, supporting them to explore more cross-national business opportunities while achieving its own sustainable development.

CDB President Zheng Zhijie said, "CDB will showcase China's global financial influences and aim to become a leader in the nation's opening-up development", a concept emphasized in the fifth Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

haonan@chinadaily.com.cn

A natural gas project in Central Asia funded by China Development Bank is under construction. The bank pledged to offer nearly $190 billion to countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative by the end of 2015. Photos provided to China Daily

(China Daily 03/11/2016 page7)