Economy

WB OKs loan to boost city building in Chongqing

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-06-04 19:44

BEIJING - The World Bank has approved a loan worth $84 million to help Southwest China's Chongqing municipality adapt to rapid urbanization.

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The loans would be used to improve roads linking urban and rural areas, water supplies, employment training, and primary health care in underdeveloped areas of the municipality, especially in villages, a statement from the World Bank said.

The loan is part of the $190-million investment by the Chongqing Urban-Rural Integration Project to achieve those goals, said the statement.

"The project supports the balanced long-term growth in both urban and rural areas through the provision of basic services," said Paul Kriss, World Bank's senior urban specialist in charge of the loan project.

Chongqing municipality's urban population has soared from 36 percent of the total in 2000 to 50 percent in 2008. However, annual per capita income in urban areas is almost 3.8 times the level in rural areas.