China Development Bank said its net profit rose 53% year-on-year to US$4.67 billion in 2009, the Wall Street Journal reported. According to the bank’s annual report, which was published in a central bank-backed newspaper on Tuesday, new loans reached US$92.9 billion last year, with about one-third of the money going to central government investment projects. Total outstanding loans rose 28% to US$542.9 billion while outstanding foreign exchange loans totaled US$97.4 billion at the end of last year compared to US$64.5 billion at the end of 2008. Financial information on CDB, a major bond issuer and creditor to international energy projects, is hard to come by but closely followed given the bank’s role in restructuring the domestic economy and supporting state firms expanding abroad. The report referred to energy-related financing deals in Russia, Brazil, Venezuela and Turkmenistan over the past year. Chen Yuan, CDB’s chairman, said the bank would continue to “service the nation’s strategy” in 2010.
Categories