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Financial district planned
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-08-03 07:55 Beijing unveiled plans for a new financial district, the largest real estate project since the Olympic Games, to be funded with 60 billion yuan in loans from China Development Bank Corp and other lenders. China Development agreed to give Lize Holdings Co a 10.9 billion yuan credit line to develop an area 5.25 sq km in size about 8 kilometers from central Beijing's Tiananmen Square, State-controlled Lize Holdings said in a statement. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd, Agricultural Bank of China and China Construction Bank Co will each provide an additional 8 billion yuan each, according to agreements signed on July 28.
"It builds on the foundation laid by Beijing's Olympics construction to turn the city into a world-class financial center," Ji said. Beijing is vying with Shanghai and Hong Kong for investments by financial companies and has moved factories farther away from the city center to combat pollution. The city accounted for 3 percent of China's gross domestic product in 2008, compared with 4.5 percent for Shanghai, according to the nation's statistics bureau. "Most financial institutions and companies tend to maintain their head offices or at least a significant part of their staff here, which creates room for building a financial center," Liu Jieyi, vice-president of Beijing Zhongtian Real Estate Co, said. City officials have been trying for "many years" to develop the area south of Chang'an Avenue and got "a boost of confidence" from the Olympics, he said. The new financial district is south of Finance Street in western Beijing, where the central bank, bank regulator and securities supervisor are located. The head offices of ICBC, Agricultural Bank and Bank of China are in the vicinity. Lize Holdings was set up by Beijing's government to manage the project. The area can be accessed by four subway lines and will be near Beijing's second airport, which is scheduled to start construction next year. Lize Holdings will sell shares to the public at some point to fund operations, he said. Huaxia Bank Co, Industrial Bank Co, China CITIC Bank, Minsheng Banking Corp, Bank of Beijing Co and Bank of Communications Co are also lending money to the projec.
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