Foreign funds for private farming business ( 2003-08-08 08:49) (China Daily)
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the
World Bank Group, signed credit agreements with two Chinese private companies
yesterday.
The investments in the two companies, Jilin Huazheng Agricultural Development
Co Ltd and Global Infotech Holdings Inc, total US$25.5 million.
According to the agreement, IFC will extend a US$22 million loan to Jilin
Huazheng Agricultural Development to help it integrate and expand its pork
production activities.
It is the first IFC investment in Northeast China's Jilin Province, and also
the first overseas financing project approved by the Chinese Government since
1995 to support a private agricultural business.
The loan will be used to help the firm build new pig breeding farms, a new
processing facility to produce ready-to-eat packaged meats and upgrade
slaughtering capacity.
Company Chairman Han Zhenfa "welcomed the close collaboration between the IFC
and other international partners.''
The IFC's country manager for China, Karen Finkelston, believes the project
will serve as a role model for other international and private sector
investments in Northeast China, which has failed to attract much foreign
capital.
In the other deal yesterday, the IFC agreed to provide a US$3.5 million loan
to Global Infotech, a Chinese information technology services and software
development company.
The investment will support the IT firm's expansion of its software product
line and development of a new software centre in Chengdu, capital of Southwest
China's Sichuan Province.
"We expect our first investment in Chinese IT firms will have a positive
impact on the sector and also on the financial sector since Global Infotech
delivers innovative IT solutions to Chinese banks and other financial
institutions,'' said Javed Hamid, IFC director for East Asia and the Pacific.
Yu Wei, the founder and CEO of the Chinese company, said: "IFC's fund will
play a key role in assisting us in the next phase of growth and in achieving the
company's goal, which aims to show China's software engineers are able to
translate business needs into efficient enterprise software.''