OREANDA-NEWS. May 06, 2013. China Development Bank (CDB) again issued Rmb130m in emergency loans to support quake relief efforts in the earthquake-stricken areas of Ya'an Sichuan. At present, CDB has offered Rmb330m in emergency loans to support quake relief in Ya'an.

After Ya’an City issued Rmb200m in emergency loans the day the earthquake hit on April 20, CDB offered another Rmb100m and Rmb30m in emergency loans to the more seriously affected Leshan City and Qionglai City. The loans were to be used to purchase relief supplies, repair damaged roads and water conservation facilities, reconstruct primary and secondary schools, and help plug the short-term relief funding gap.

A CDB representative said that the bank continues to keep a close watch on relief efforts in Ya'an, and it is organizing donation drives and issuing emergency loans to meet the current need for relief funding. At the same time, CDB is already looking into financial services for post-disaster reconstruction. It has linked up with the Sichuan Development and Reform Commission and Sichuan Finance Department to provide a full range of financial services (including planning, financing and financial intelligence support) to the affected areas.

On April 26, CDB also issued Rmb100m in emergency loans to support flood relief efforts in the province of Heilongjiang, which was hit by a ‘once in 50 years’ flood over spring.

Since last winter, Heilongjiang has been receiving heavy snow, which had led to snow over accumulating on farmlands throughout the province. Some rural roads, houses and seedling greenhouses have been damaged to varying degrees and sowing has been delayed for most of the farmlands. Heilongjiang recently encountered the worst spring flooding seen since 1961. In response, CDB promptly contacted the Heilongjiang local government and took the initiative to learn about the situation in affected areas and understand their relief funding needs. Upon learning that the Jiansanjiang Agricultural Reclamation Area of Jiamusi City and national-level modern agriculture pilot area of Zhaodong City were seriously affected and urgently required relief funding support, CDB swiftly approved the issuance of emergency loans for these areas. On April 26, Jiamusi City and Zhaodong City each received emergency loans of Rmb50m each from CDB. These loans will mainly be used to repair channels and purchase drainage dredging equipment, help minimize the flood's impact in affected areas and expedite sowing on farmlands.