China signed an agreement with the World Bank yesterday to secure US$30 million in loans and donations – US$20 million in World Bank loans and US$10 million in donations from the Department for International Development (DFID) of the British government - to support its economic reform.

China's Ministry of Finance said the funding would be used to reduce poverty in China's rural areas, the public sector, social security and energy and resources management.

According to Chunlin Zhang, World Bank manager for the initiative, the project is designed to assist government decision makers who are determined to implement a reform and development agenda in their departments or regions but face a lack of technical knowledge.

Li Yong, vice minister of finance, said that technical assistance programs were an important part of China's cooperation with the World Bank and China had benefited greatly from them. With the technical assistance of the Bank China had set up its competitive public procurement bidding and tendering system and water resource management mechanism over the past two decades.

The agreement was signed by David Dollar, country director of the World Bank Office in Beijing and Zhu Guangyao, director general of the International Cooperation Department from the Ministry of Finance.

(Xinhua News Agency June 22, 2006)