German lender to team up with CDB in nations taking part in initiative

Deutsche Bank AG, Germany’s largest lender, said on Wednesday that it plans to finance $3 billion worth of projects in partnership with the China Development Bank in the countries and regions taking part in the Belt and Road Initiative.

The CDB and Deutsche Bank agreed to work together over the next five years to support the projects. The move will make Deutsche Bank one of the first global lenders to participate in the initiative.

The two parties also agreed to establish a joint team to cooperate on projects promoting the initiative, including joint lending and project finance that are beneficial to the clients of both lenders.

Garth Ritchie, head of Deutsche Bank’s corporate & investment bank, said expanding infrastructure links between China and Europe is a positive opportunity for the peoples and economies of both sides.

The CDB has lent a combined $160 billion to projects in countries and regions taking part in the Belt & Road Initiative, supporting infrastructure, social welfare and public utility projects, according to the lender.

“We insisted that the projects we finance must be sustainable, and we only operate those in mature conditions. Lending to these projects must be in alignment with the ideas of inclusive lending and supporting green economic growth,” said Hu Huaibang, chairman of the CDB.

Xi Junyang, a professor at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, said that financial institutions play a significant role in supporting projects in Belt and Road economies, and foreign banks which operate in China and have established a global mar-

Lending to these projects must be ... supporting green economic growth.” Hu Huaibang, chairman of the China Development Bank