World Bank Approves $250Mln Loans to Support Development in China

The World Bank Group's Board of Executive Directors on Thursday approved loans of 250 million U.S. dollars to support sustainable development in poor rural areas and to improve urban transport in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />China.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

A US$100 million Development Loan will be used to support sustainable development in poor areas in Chongqing Municipality, Henan Province and Shaanxi Province. It is supplemented by a grant of $4.265 million form the Global Environment Facility focused on improving sustainable land resource management and climate change adaptation, said the bank on its website.

The program, so called "The Sustainable Development in Poor Rural Areas Project," is the fifth "Poverty Project" supported by the World Bank in 15 years, aiming to deliver assistance to the poorest communities and households through community driven development and participatory approaches.

The project will cover 770 extremely poor administrative villages in 25 project countries.

Another $150 million dollars will help improve urban transport and road safety in Taiyuan, capital of northern China's Shanxi Province.

The loan is part of a total investment of $330 million project in this city, with $180.77 through counterpart funding.

The project consists of four components: Road Infrastructure, Public Transport, Traffic Safety & Management and Institutional Strengthening.