China’s state-owned banks have launched a concerted effort to strengthen the finances of the country’s struggling property developers, with more than RMB 220 billion ($30.7 billion) being announced on Wednesday in new credit lines, reports the Financial Times. Bank of Communications, China’s sixth-largest bank by assets, was the first to announce support, agreeing a RMB 100 billion credit line for Chinese developer Vanke and RMB 20 billion for Midea Real Estate, in a clear sign of greater government support for stronger players in the real estate sector.
BoCom said the loans would support the developers’ needs in “project developments, mortgages, merger and acquisition deals, bond investment, letter of guarantee and supply chain financing.”
Bank of China, the fourth-biggest bank in China, later announced it would offer another RMB 100 billion credit line to Vanke, while the Agricultural Bank of China, the country’s third-largest lender, said it would also offer credit lines to five developers—Vanke, China Overseas Land and Investment, China Resources Land, Longfor and Gemdale—but did not reveal any figures.