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European Investment Bank loaned $439 mn to China in 2015
December 25, 2015, 5:48 am

The EIB's headquarters in Luxembourg [Image: EIB]

The EIB’s headquarters in Luxembourg [Image: EIB]

The European Investment Bank (EIB) this year invested in China more than ever before, China’s Ministry of Finance said Friday.

Around 401 million euros ($439 million) in loans from the EIB were invested in 10 projects in China in 2015, mainly focusing on forest development, energy conservation and environmental protection, the Ministry said.

The projects are key to improving the environment and boosting sustainable development of the economy, the Chinese Finance Ministry said.

The EIB pledges 80 billion euros in investment each year. The EIB is a member of the official working group set up by the EU and China to boost investment cooperation between the world’s second largest economy and the European Union.

The EIB, the European Union’s public financing institution, was set up in 1958, and is responsible for long-term investment loans to more than 130 countries and regions. It mainly finances transportation, communications and energy projects. The Bank has an office in Beijing.

China received its first loan from the  EU member state-owned EIB in 1995 to bolster an oil and natural gas exploration project in the East China Sea.

The Chinese government has announced earlier this year that it will inject billions of dollars into a much touted EU plan to invest 315 billion euros into the EU’s ailing economy.

Beijing’s plan to invest in the EU fund came after the decision of several European countries to join the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

 

TBP and Agencies