Chinese policy bank to issue 350 bln yuan financial bonds in 2009

CHANGSHA, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Agricultural Development Bank of China (ADBC), one of the country's major state-run policy banks, plans to issue 350 billion yuan (51.47 billion U.S. dollars) worth of financial bonds in 2009. That's up 25 percent year-on-year, said ADBC vice governor Ding Jie here Friday.

The money will be used to expand the coverage of rural credit to support the country's agriculture. It will also ensure funds for loans for agriculture-supporting programs over the year, Dingsaid at a bank meeting here.

By the end of February, the ADBC had accumulatively issued more than 1 trillion yuan worth of bonds, making it the third largest bond issuer in China's interbank market, said Ding. It entered the interbank market in 2005.

The ADBC gained profits of 20.4 billion yuan in 2008, up 5.5 billion yuan, or 37 percent year on year.