Huangpu to seek more growth via bank cooperation

Guangpu district in Guangzhou and the Guangdong Branch of China Development Bank agreed on cooperation in various fields at a meeting on May 21.

Joint efforts will be made in infrastructure facilities, industrial transformation and upgrading, urban renewal, energy conservation and environmental protection, ecological construction, poverty alleviation and rural revitalization, according to the meeting.

The bank will offer policy-oriented financial support of no less than 80 billion yuan ($11.59 billion) to Huangpu district and Guangzhou Development Zone, aiming to facilitate their high-quality growth.

Guo Lei, head of the bank, said the district boasts a profound historical and cultural heritage and Guangzhou Development Zone is a typical example of turning high speed growth to high quality development, adding that the new growth engines of Huangpu and the focuses of the China Development Bank match each other.

Guo also hoped their agreement would be an opportunity for further strengthening their partnership.

Pledged supplementary lending (PSL) of the China Development Bank is a special loan offered by the People's Bank of China to financial institutions through pledges.

Its interest rate is about4.45 percent and the benchmark interest rate has lowered by 10 percent compared with commercial bank's benchmark five-year or above lending rate of 4.9 percent.

In addition, the fund enjoys the advantages of stability and capital guarantees.

The district has cooperated with the bank for a long time. By March, the bank had promised to offer loans and special funds totaling 6.14 billion yuan (including a 200 million yuan special fund). More than 2.68 billion yuan has been put in place.

The two sides will further enhance their cooperation in financial innovation and support for high-end industries including integrated circuits, new energy, artificial intelligence,bio-medicine in Huangpu with their complementary superior advantages.