China's two policy banks to raise 300b yuan to finance major projects

BEIJING -- The People's Bank of China (PBOC), the country's central bank, will support two policy banks to raise up to 300 billion yuan ($44.87 billion) via financial bond issuance to fund the country's major projects, a PBOC official said.

Infrastructure investment remains an important measure of stabilizing the macro economy, the official added.

The funds, which will be raised by the China Development Bank and Agricultural Development Bank of China, aim to replenish the capital for major projects such as new infrastructure without exceeding half of the total investment, or to bridge financing for projects funded by special-purpose bonds, the official said.

The central government will offer interest discounts for a period of two years in accordance with the actual amount of equity investment.

The National Development and Reform Commission will work with local governments and relevant central government departments as well as central enterprises to form a sufficient list of projects, and the two policy banks will decide for themselves which projects they want to invest in.