China Development Bank to boost cooperation with Africa

BEIJING -- China Development Bank (CDB) will continue to enhance financial cooperation with African countries, Yuan Li, vice president of CDB, said Monday.

Addressing a forum on Chinese businesses in Africa, Yuan said that as China's biggest foreign investment and financing bank, CDB had provided various forms of financial support to more than 30 African countries as of February this year, with a credit balance of $16 billion.

The bank's direct investment in Africa via the China-Africa Development Fund has reached $2 billion, he added.

According to Yuan, the bank's investment and financing cooperation with Africa operate in a variety of fields, including agriculture, electric power, manufacturing, resource exploitation, communication, roads, aviation, ports, urban infrastructure and people's livelihood.

CDB has provided $700 million in loans to small and medium-sized African companies since 2009, said Yuan.

He said according to incomplete statistics, these loans generated 20,000 job opportunities in Africa and benefited 400,000 local farmers. They also marked a $400 million increase in the China-Africa trade volume.

"CDB will work with its African partners to make new contributions to China-Africa common development," he said.