China Development Bank increases support for Yangtze River protection

BEIJING, July 18 (Xinhua) -- China Development Bank (CDB) has boosted financial support for the protection and green development of the Yangtze River.

The CDB issued loans worth 256.1 billion yuan (about 37.97 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of the year, up 14 percent year on year, providing support for critical areas in the Yangtze River protection.

These include environmental protection and ecological restoration in urban and rural areas, industrial pollution control, comprehensive transportation system construction, and rural infrastructure construction along the Yangtze Economic Belt.

With the environmental protection and restoration projects, the sewage and garbage treatment capacity will be increased, rivers, lakes and wetlands will be treated, and polluting enterprises will be closed or relocated, the CDB added.