World Bank lists China projects

Source: Xinhua  |   2008-6-26  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

THE World Bank's lending to China reached US$1.51 billion in the 2008 fiscal year ending on June 30, said the bank's Beijing office yesterday.

The bank's board of executive directors has approved four new projects in China, helping the nation with environmental and social challenges, said David Dollar, the bank's China director.

A new rural health project, with a bank loan of US$50 million, aims to extend the government's health reforms by testing a series of innovations in financing, delivery of services and basic public health.

Another US$50 million goes to a skills development and employment project for rural migrants. The bank will work with local governments of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Shandong and Anhui provinces, and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security to improve skills for migrants.

The bank has lent US$150 million to develop sustainable city transport in Xi'an. Bus routes, bicycle routes, traffic calming and speed-reducing strategies will help traffic flow more smoothly on roads.

And the fourth project is a new 335-kilometer high-speed passenger rail line to be built between Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei Province and Zhengzhou, capital of Henan Province. The US$300-million project is part of the new 2,100-km fast rail linking Beijing with Guangzhou.