In July, Li Ruogu was appointed president and board chairman of the state-owned China Exim Bank by the State Council. Li made his first formal appearance in his new capacity during the bank's mid-year working conference on August 8 in Beijing. At the conference, Li emphasized the bank's "go-out" strategy of further strengthening market development and supporting China's open economy.

Li was previously the vice governor of the People's Bank of China (PBC), the country's central bank.

Li said that a new round of industrial structure adjustment had begun, in line with the acceleration of global economy integration. He added that the methods and scale of China's overseas investments were being regularly upgraded. Recent overtures to engage in overseas mergers and acquisitions (M&As) by some Chinese enterprises show that the pace of development has quickened, and methods and targets are changing.

The current state of affairs provides vast opportunities for the development and reform of the bank, Li said.

The year 2005 is the tail end of China's 10th Five-Year Plan (2001-2005) and a key year for reform and development, Li said. He demanded that the bank should strengthen its marketing efforts, optimize loan structures, and give priority to the export of hi-tech, value-added products and self-owned intellectual property and brands, and foreign-related project contracts, overseas investment and development of overseas resources. Li also pledged to enhance and improve the bank's businesses, support greater research and development, and provide augmented financial services to Chinese enterprises.

In the first half of this year, the bank approved 95.9 billion yuan (US$11.8 billion) worth of loans, up 136 percent from the same period of last year. Actual lending was 67.5 billion yuan (US$8.3 billion), a year-on-year growth of 107 percent. About 30 percent of the loans were for overseas investment projects.

The bank provided financial support for projects including the export of machinery, electric and hi-tech products, amounting to a total investment of US$23.7 billion. By the end of June, its lending from deposits reached 162.8 billion yuan (US$20 billion), and the amount transferred from foreign government loans was about US$16.9 billion.

Its percentage of non-performing loans decreased by 1.5 points from the same period of last year.

(China.org.cn by Tang Fuchun, August 10, 2005)