Over the past six years, China Development Bank (CDB) has issued loans to northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region totaling 64.3 billion yuan (US$8.3 billion).

Zheng Xudong, head of the CDB Xinjiang Branch, said on Sunday its loans are propping up close to "20 key sectors", including water control, highway construction, small and medium-sized enterprises, mining resources, as well as helping harness major local rivers.

In 2006 alone, CDB earmarked 115 million yuan (US$14.8 million) of loans to aid Xinjiang in coping with a slew of emergencies, such as bird flu, earthquakes and food safety.

The bank further gave the region its first foreign currency loan, worth US$178 million, to develop cooperation and exchanges between local firms and overseas companies.

Zheng revealed that CDB's loans for capital projects in Xinjiang over the past six years account for around 70 percent of all lending for the region. He added that far from reducing its involvement, the CDB would increase its investment in Xinjiang in the future to help continue all-round development.

(Xinhua News Agency February 12, 2007)