On February 3, 2008, Wang Zhaowen, spokesman of Bank of China, announced that the Bank was to open green financial channel in the disaster areas to financially support local governments with disaster relief and post-disaster reconstruction.
Immediately after the disaster, Bank of China head office was reported to have set up a disaster relief panel which, with a quick response mechanism, had kept in contact with the branches in serious disaster areas and adopted corresponding financial measures. At the emergency meeting for disaster relief, the Bank decided to enhance credit support for energy, petrochemical, telecommunications, transportation, communication and other infrastructure industries, which would enjoy preference and priority in loan acceptance, approval and issuance. Branches in various disaster areas have promptly contacted local authorities in charge of utilities, transportation, telecommunications and other industries, and managed to assist the enterprises in obtaining anti-disaster facilities, coal and so on. To help repair the seriously damaged grid, Bank of China Guizhou Branch has credited an emergency loan of RMB 200 million to China Southern Power Grid Guizhou Power Company through the green channel.
According to rough statistics, as of January 28, Bank of China has lent RMB 1.04 billion to such industries as coal, power, petrochemical, transportation and telecommunications in Hunan, Guizhou, Jiangxi, Hubei and other disaster areas in southern China. The Bank has rendered energetic support to disaster relief and post-disaster reconstruction.
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