BOC gives more loans to key industries in China

BEIJING, March 5 (Chinese media) -- Bank of China (BOC) said Thursday its

outstanding loans stood at nearly 1.6 trillion yuan (235.3 billion U.S. dollars)

by the end of January, up 87.29 billion yuan compared with the beginning of the

year.

The newly issued loans were mainly given to government-supported

industries, including infrastructure construction, after-quake building, mergers

and acquisitions as well as technological innovations, said BOC.

The move has started since the end of last year, when the bank began to

lend more to transportation and energy sectors, and backed up domestic companies

in making overseas investment programs, it said.

BOC reported 250 billion yuan of newly-increased loans in year 2008

compared with 2007, which was 90 billion yuan above the targeted sum, according

to the bank.