BEIJING, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- China’s Tianjin Binhai New Area and the Bank of China (BOC)’s Tianjin branch recently signed a comprehensive strategic cooperation agreement, under which the bank is expected to provide at least 120 billion yuan (about 17.5 billion U.S. dollars) of financing within five years to facilitate the development of the area.
A forefront of China’s development and opening up drive, the Binhai New Area is embracing great development opportunities brought about by the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei regional integration program, the free trade zone construction and the Belt and Road Initiative, and is thirsty for development funds.
The area in the northern port city of Tianjin was officially inaugurated in 2010. It covers 2,270 sq km and has a population of nearly 3 million. It also contains major parts of Tianjin Free Trade Zone. In 2016, the area’s GDP topped 1 trillion yuan, the first among the country’s existing 18 national new areas to enter the “trillion-yuan club.”
According to an official with the Binhai New Area, the funds from the BOC will be used to facilitate the implementation of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordinated development strategy. Specifically, the financing support will mainly be given to infrastructure construction, transportation integration projects, industry upgrading, and environment improvement.
The funds will also be used to support the construction of the Binhai-Zhongguancun Technology Park and the China-Europe High-end Equipment Manufacturing Park.
Additionally, the BOC is poised to provide cross-border syndicated loans, buyer’s credit and other services to help the area’s enterprises to go overseas. Enditem (Edited by Yang Qi, kateqiyang@xinhua.org)
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