The Agricultural Development Bank of China (ADBC), a state-owned policy bank, plans to issue 260 billion yuan (US$36.6 billion) worth of bonds this year.

The funds will be used to support the country's rural development and procurement of major farm products, including grain, cotton and edible oil, Saturday's China Securities Journal quoted ADBC vice president Ding Jie as saying.

The bank was striving to make bond issuing procedures more transparent and improve bond management in 2008, said Ding.

To date, the bank has raised 743 billion yuan from bond issues.

The ADBC was established in 1994 by the central government to promote rural and agricultural development. It has 2,000 branches in 30 provinces.

Ding said the bank reported profits of 14.9 billion yuan last year, up 70 percent over a year earlier.

By the end of 2007, the non-performing loan ratio was 6.29 percent, down 1.36 percentage points from 2006.

(Xinhua News Agency March 1, 2008)