CDB makes record loan for poverty relief

China Development Bank has agreed to provide a record US$160 million.

That's RMB1 billion to assist the poverty relief efforts of the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation.

The amount is the largest micro-finance loan offered by any Chinese bank to date. The CDB loan will greatly ease the foundation's financing difficulties for micro-credit projects, and is expected to help more than 150,000 farmers exit poverty each year.

CDB is one of China’s three policy banks and is primarily responsible for raising funding for large infrastructure projects. It has been described as the engine that powers China’s economic development policies. CFPA is the largest and most influential NGO specializing in poverty alleviation in China.

CDB has provided US$49.2 million in loans to the CFPA's micro-credit poverty-relief projects, said CDB president Zheng Zhijie.

The CFPA has provided US$528 million in micro loans to more than 1.5 million poor Chinese as of this September.