The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, signed an agreement for the first time with a Chinese municipal government on financing emerging eco-friendly projects.
Under this memorandum of understanding, IFC and Hangzhou government will jointly support bank credits for the energy saving and emission reduction projects of local enterprises. Yang Wubaio, deputy mayor of Hangzhou, said that banks joining the framework would provide up to 5 billion yuan worth of credits with 1 billion yuan for the first phase. The municipal government and IFC will share the credit risks.
The municipal government will also help to promote the projects, while IFC will offer technical services, Yang said.
Hangzhou United Bank and the Hangzhou branch of China Zheshang Bank have become the first cooperative banks of this mechanism.
