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Bank giants back rail construction plans

By Ding Qi (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-11-25 16:26

China's top commercial banks have vowed to support the country's grand railway projects by forging strategic ties with the railway ministry, the Shanghai-based Oriental Morning Post reported on Tuesday.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the country's largest lender, announced yesterday that it has inked a strategic cooperative agreement with the Ministry of Railways (MOR) to ensure capital demand for the country's railway construction in the coming years.

According to the deal, the MOR will choose ICBC as its preferential financial service provider. ICBC will expand its credit scale to railway construction in addition to its previous commitments, and provide a wide range of customized banking services for the ministry.

Meanwhile, the MOR said on its website it had also talked with the China Construction Bank (CCB), the country's second-largest lender by assets, and the two parties would strengthen strategic cooperation on project financing, fund management, foreign exchange and brokerage business.

The paper quoted Guo Shuqing, CCB's board chairman, as saying that rail construction has become a crucial component of the central government's plan to boost domestic demand, and CCB is eager to give credit support to this historic drive.

As part of the country's economic stimulus package, the MOR has mapped out a blueprint to invest 2 trillion yuan ($293 billion) in new railway projects in the next two years to lift the country’s transportation capacity and boost domestic demand.