Ten domestic financial institutions agreed Saturday to grant
combined loans amounting to 3.35 billion yuan (about US$404
million) to the China Yangtze Power Co., Ltd, the sole manager of
electric power production in central China's gigantic Three Gorges
Project.??
Yangtze Power will use the money to purchase the first batch of
four power generating units that have become operational in
accordance with an agreement signed with the banking syndicate in
Beijing.
The China Construction Bank (CCB), one of
the country's "big four" state-owned commercial banks, will lead
the syndicate to offer as much as two billion yuan. Other leading
loan providers include the Three Gorges Financing Co., Ltd, the
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and the China Minsheng
Banking Group.
A State Council plan has approved Yangtze Power to gradually
purchase the power generation assets in the gigantic Three Gorges
waster conservancy project, and the majority of the funds needed
will be borrowed and come from the company's profits, with a
smaller proportion being money collected from capital markets.
According to authorities of the State Electricity Regulatory
Commission attending Saturday's signing ceremony, the move was a
fine example for cooperation between banks and enterprises and
among banks, which was of great significance for the electric power
industries to broaden money-raising channels and the financial
industries to expand services for clients.
(Xinhua News Agency November 15, 2003)