OREANDA-NEWS. June 10, 2013. China Development Bank (CDB) and the Guangxi Communication Investment Group (GCIG) signed a "Development Financing Cooperation Agreement" today in Nanning. Under the agreement, in the next five years CDB will give play to its comprehensive financial advantages and provide financing of 120 billion yuan to support transportation development in Guangxi.

The signing of the agreement is a concrete step for CDB and GCIG to implement Guangxi's strategy for giving priority to transportation development, further improve transportation infrastructure, tap the regional advantage of Guangxi, and support Guangxi's new urbanization building and "Beautiful Guangxi" building. Huang Daowei, member of the standing committee of the Guangxi regional party committee and executive vice governor of Guangxi; Chen Gang, vice governor of Guangxi; and Wang Yongsheng, vice president of CDB, attended the signing session.

At the signing session, CDB Guangxi Branch, ICBC Guangxi Branch, BOC Guangxi Branch, and SPD Bank Nanning Branch signed a 31.2 billion yuan syndicated loan agreement with GCIG for five highway projects including highways from Laibin to Mashan, from Mashan to Pingguo, and from Liuzhou to Wuxuan.

Under the signed cooperation agreement CDB will lead in arranging financing of 120 billion yuan for GCIG mainly to provide adequate funding for investment in transportation infrastructure and development of transportation-related industries in accordance with GCIG's development strategy. This is not only a major achievement in GCIG's financing work but also a major measure for CDB to support the development in Guangxi, reflecting the confidence of the financial circles in the social and economic development in Guangxi.

It has been reported that CDB, as China's major bank in longer-term investment and financing, will help Guangxi open up the links among its cities and create an international thoroughfare that goes "beyond the seas, the border and the region" in connection with the strategy of "Affluent People, Strong Guangxi, and New Leap Forward" and the arrangements made by the regional party committee and government to give priority to transportation development. Up to now, CDB Guangxi Branch has made cumulative loans of 88.2 billion yuan in the highway, railway, and waterway shipping sectors in Guangxi and led in total social funding of 147 billion yuan, of which 56.3 billion yuan were for GCIG's major highway construction projects. The successful completion of important highway construction from Qinzhou to Chongzuo, from Yulin to Tieshan Port, and from Liujing to Qinzhou Port holds major significance for promoting the accelerated development of the Beibu Gulf city group, enhancing urbanization and industrialization along the highways, and speeding up the development of the Beibu Gulf Economic Zone and the building of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area.

As a major force in transportation building in Guangxi, GCIG has, since its founding in 2008, thoroughly implemented the "Three Priorities" development strategy of the regional party committee and government, actively engaged in the overall economic and social development in Guangxi, vigorously promoted the building of major thoroughfares that go beyond the seas, the border and the region, and made great efforts to create an integrated regional transportation system. Since its founding, GCIG has built, is building, and plans to build 28 highways and main roads with total length of nearly 4,000 km (including connecting roads) and total investment of about 240 billion yuan, respectively over twice and nearly four times of Guangxi's highway length and investment before the founding of GCIG.

The successful completion of seven highways -- including those from Liuzhai to Hechi, from Yizhou to Hechi, and from Qinzhou to Chongzuo -- has added 835 km in highway length and accomplished the two goals of highway access for all of the region's prefectural-level cities and over 3,000 km of highway length in the region. The three completed highways from Chongzuo to Qinzhou, from Yulin to Tieshan Port, and from Liujing to Qinzhou Port have become major transportation arteries for speeding up the development of the Beibu Gulf Economic Zone and the building of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area.