CDB to fund B&R projects worth $36b in three years

The China Development Bank will invest 250 billion yuan ($36.7 billion) in projects linked to the Belt and Road Initiative during the next three years.

The bank has bundled the funds into special loans to stimulate sustainable development.

“We will select projects that make sense financially and adhere to sustainable development principles,” said Liang Huijiang, director-general of the international finance department at the CDB.

Last month, the country’s largest development bank rolled out three special loans during the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation.

But the exact amount of the fund, or special loans, was released on Thursday.

Up to 100 billion yuan will be earmarked for infrastructure projects while a further 100 billion yuan will be invested in industrial cooperation.

Another 50 billion yuan will be used for financial cooperation projects, bringing the total to 250 billion yuan.

“We have abundant capital to support the lending plan and the financing for concrete projects,” said Liang.

CDB has assets of more than 14 trillion yuan and has more than 500 projects in the pipeline for Belt and Road regions worth over $350 billion.

Key sectors include infrastructure, capacity cooperation, energy and finance.

By the end of 2016, the CDB had issued loans of more than $160 billion in B&R economies.

“The China Development Bank has always paid attention to cooperation and will attract private capital to participate in Belt and Road construction,” said Liang.

The CDB inked a memorandum with Deutsche Bank AG, one of the largest lenders in Europe, on Wednesday for an initial cooperation plan worth about $3 billion during the next five years.

Liang added that the CDB will help set up bilateral and multilateral government cooperation schemes and promote industrial zone developments in Belt and Road economies such as Indonesia, Laos and Kazakhstan.

Hu Huaibang, chairman of the CDB, made it clear the bank will build in risk factors as part of its investment policy.

“We will set up a risk sharing mechanism with local governments, financial institutions and enterprises at home and abroad for supporting Belt and Road construction in a sustainable and safe way,” said Hu.