CDB to issue another $1 billion loan package to African firms

HANGZHOU - State-owned China Development Bank (CDB) will provide another special purpose loan worth $1 billion over the next two years to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in African countries, an official with the bank said on Thursday.

The loan is a continuation of the measures established by China during the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in 2009, when the first special purpose loan, also worth $1 billion, was approved as part of an aid basket aimed at supporting Africa's economic development.

"The special purpose loan is aimed at broadening the financing channel of African SMEs, vitalizing local economies, adding employment and promoting export," said Liu Hao, deputy head of CDB's international cooperation bureau.