A source at the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) has revealed that the company has applied for 170 billion yuan (US$25 billion) of additional financing and is confident it will be approved. The 170 billion yuan of bonds and notes will be used to partially fund a 260 billion yuan (US$38 billion) investment in grid infrastructure, China Securities Journal reported Monday.

Xue Jing, director of the Department of Statistics of the China Electricity Council, agreed that approval is quite likely because the State Grid, which suffered severe losses from natural disasters last year, has the tough task of stimulating domestic demand through massive investment in key projects over the next three years.

Under huge financial pressure, the State Grid's asset liability ratio exceeds 60 percent and this is set to rise further after this enormous injection, said the source.

For more details, please read the full Chinese coverage at:

http://paper.cs.com.cn/html/2009-03/23/content_20008069.htm

(China.org.cn by Fan Junmei March 23, 2009)