Hanlong, which has made a string of foreign investments since 2009, signed a cooperation agreement with the Export-Import Bank of China Saturday which would provide Hanlong with loans of up to 1.5 billion U.S. dollars.

Based in southwest China's Sichuan province, Sichuan Hanlong (Group) Co., Ltd. is engaged in mining, electricity, infrastructure, pharmaceutical, real estate, tourism and environmental technology.

"The export-import bank provides Hanlong with the financial support needed in investing overseas. For a company to grow stronger, one has to go out and acquire resources," said Lou Guoqing, president of Hanlong Group.

"Our bank supports Chinese companies with competitive advantages to go abroad," noted Yang Jianhua, vice president of Export-Import Bank of China, Chengdu Branch.

Hanlong acquired a 55.4 percent stake in Australian company Moly Mine Ltd., the fourth largest molybdenum mining company worldwide, in Oct. 2009 to jointly explore the Spinifex Ridge, a molybdenum mine.

Hanlong also signed an agreement in March, 2010 with US-based General Moly Inc, the largest molybdenum mining company in the world, to allow Hanlong to market General Moly's products.

Sichuan Hanlong (Group) Co., Ltd., founded in 1997, has over 30 wholly-owned holding companies, with assets of more than 20 billion yuan(3 billion U.S.dollars). Further, it has annual sales revenues of over 16 billion yuan and employs over 12,000 workers.