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CDB to set up offices in Russia, Egypt

(China Daily/Agencies)
Updated: 2009-07-30 08:00

A view of the China Development Bank office in Shanghai. The bank plans to open offices in countries like Russia, Brazil and Egypt to expand its global reach. [China Daily]

China Development Bank Corp (CDB), the government-run bank for public works projects, plans to open offices in Russia and Egypt this year and Brazil next year as part of its strategy to become an international lender.

The branches will be in Moscow, Cairo and the Rio de Janeiro area, Vice-President Li Jiping told a press conference. The Beijing-based bank agreed in May to lend $10 billion to Brazil's state-controlled oil company, helped finance a fund in Africa and extended loans in June to Russia's development bank.

The bank agreed to lend $1.3 billion to Vnesheconombank, Russia's state development bank, the Moscow-based lender said June 14. The two banks signed another contract for a $310-million loan to fund a cement plant in the St Petersburg region, according to a separate statement.

Related readings:  CDB opens its first overseas branch  CDB to issue RMB bonds in Hong Kong   CDB posts 20.8b yuan in net profit last year   S China city gets $29b loan from CDB

The China-Africa Development Fund, which has helped finance a cotton planting and processing facility in Malawi and power station in Ghana, was set up in June 2007 with an initial $1 billion from China Development Bank.

The branch in Brazil will invest in ports, steel mills and energy, Rio de Janeiro state Governor Sergio Cabral said on June 30. The bank also has expressed interest in investing in projects related to the 2014 World Cup soccer tournament and Rio's bid for the 2016 Olympics, Cabral said in a statement. The city is home to Petroleo Brasileiro SA, which is considering buying Chinese equipment in return for further loans, and Vale SA, the world's largest iron-ore producer.

China, the world's third-biggest economy, became Brazil's leading trade partner this year after the global recession choked sales to the US. The two countries' central banks are studying a proposal to use their own currencies - the real and the yuan - in bilateral trade instead of the US dollar.

Leaders of Brazil, Russia, India and China - the so-called BRIC nations - called for a "more diversified" monetary system to reduce dependency on the US dollar at a June 16 meeting in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg.

China Development Bank's profit tumbled 28 percent last year on higher loan losses as the nation's economic growth slowed. The bank, which had 3.8 trillion yuan of assets at the end of 2008, received a $20-billion capital injection from the government in December 2007 and is seeking to become a commercial lender. The Ministry of Finance owns 51.3 percent of the bank and Central Huijin Investment Co, a unit of China's $200 billion sovereign wealth fund, holds the rest.