China Construction Bank issues 295.5 bln yuan of loans to bolster transportation

China Construction Bank, one of the country's largest state-owned commercial banks, said it had issued 295.5 billion yuan (US$41.2 billion) of loans to support the country's transportation sector during the first five months of this year.

The value represented an 11.43 percent increase from the same period last year, the bank said.

The loans helped finance the construction of expressways, improvement of congested road sections, and the completion of some expressways in central and western China, according to the bank.

China has encouraged banks to use re-lending facilities to provide financing for transportation projects.

By the end of March, outstanding re-lending loans for transportation and logistics came in at 35.4 billion yuan, up 11.2 billion yuan from the beginning of this year, data from the People's Bank of China showed.