China Development Bank makes $290 b transport financing pledge

Shanghai (Reuters): China Development Bank (CDB) has agreed to provide China’s transport ministry with at least 2 trillion yuan ($290.38 billion) of financing support to aid the building of roads, bridges and tourism infrastructure through to 2020.

The CDB signed a cooperation agreement with China’s Ministry of Transport for the investment, which will also support the building of transport infrastructure overseas, according to a statement on the bank’s website.

The CDB pledge indicates that a government infrastructure spending spree that started last year is likely to continue. That would provide a potential boost for China’s economy which has started off strong in 2017, supported by higher bank lending and a stronger-than-expected expansion in fixed asset investment.

Overseen by China’s State Council, the China Development Bank is one of the country’s three policy banks and primarily provides financing support to large infrastructure projects such as the Three Gorges Dam.

The CDB said at the end of 2016 it had disbursed more than five trillion yuan in loans for roads, railways, aviation and ports.