Lenders try to give boost to culture

BEIJING / HANGZHOU - Commercial lenders in China are taking a look at television stations, publishing houses and other cultural enterprises in the hope of taking advantage of opportunities that are likely to come from those industries, which the central government has vowed to support.

From the beginning of 2009 to the end of August, the value of the Bank of China's outstanding loans to cultural industries increased by 55 percent, going up to 25 billion yuan ($3.9 billion), said Yang Wei, senior manager of the bank's corporate banking unit.

"Cultural credit is a brand new area for banks and combines both opportunities and difficulties," Yang said. "We highly value the business opportunities lying ahead for cultural industries."