Loan balance reaches 300 bln yuan for B&R projects

The balance of loans issued by banks in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region for the Belt and Road Initiative projects reached 300 billion yuan in 2016, offering an important support for the Belt and Road construction and Xinjiang’s efforts to build itself into a core area on the Silk Road Economic Belt.

It was reported that by the end of 2016, the loan balance of Xinjiang’s financial institutions had amounted to 1.55 trillion yuan, of which that related to the Belt and Road projects had reached 300 billion yuan, a growth of about 6 percentage points higher than the average annual growth .

To help Xinjiang build a regional financial hub on the Silk Road Economic Belt,  China Banking Regulatory Commission's Xinjiang office  exerted great efforts to promote establishment of new banks in 2016.

Last year, 4 rural commercial banks and 9 village and township banks were approved and opened, substantially increasing the supply in the financial market.

The authority approved Parkistan’s Habib Bank to open a branch in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang, aiming to provide better financial services for the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.