Damu Bay Project gets $150 million of low-interest loans
- Details
- Category: Ningbo District
- Published: Tuesday, 27 August 2013 09:08
It is learned fromthe National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance that with the State Council’s approval, the application of $150 million low-interest loans for the Damu Bay Low-carbon Demonstration City project in Xiangshan has recently been included in the project planning of the World Bank. This is the largest sum of the World Bank loan project in Zhejiang Province.
The loan from the World Bank has always been known for its long term, low interest rates and high requirements. In January, the application of the Damu Bay Loan Project was submitted to the State Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance. Then the joint inspection group composed of the Global Environment Fund, the World Bank, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance and other related sectors conducted six on-site inspections in Xiangshan County. “The Damu Bay Low-carbon City project is China’s first low-carbon township demonstration project with unified planning, clear process and practical outcome. We are optimistic about the Damu Bay pattern.” commented Paul Procee from the Beijing Office of the World Bank, who is quite impressed with the low-carbon construction and innovative financing concept of the Damu Bay project.
It is said that in 2010, the Damu Bay started the development concept of low-carbon construction, which immediately caught the attention of about ten high-end institutions and leaders including the Ministry of Housing and Urban-rural Development, the State Environmental Protection Administration, and China Society for Sustainable Development, and related experts have repeatedly conducted on-site
inspections on the project. In 2011, in view of the substantial advance of the low-carbon construction of the Damu Bay project, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-rural Development and the Ministry of Finance listed the project as “the first low-carbon eco-town construction pilot in China” and “the national renewable energy application demonstration project”, and provided 14 million yuan as project grant. In December last year, the Global Environment Fund also approved the construction concept of the project and listed it as a GEF project and granted $550,000 for its construction and planned to strengthen its support for the project.
It is reported that there is a total loan of 918 million yuan available including the World Bank loan for the project. If calculated on a 30-year service, the project will save 50 million yuan as interest annually, which will prove to be a powerful guarantee for the overall construction of Damu Bay New City. It is said that the funds will mainly be used in such innovative aspects as low-carbon transportation system, water resources exploitation and low-carbon application in architecture of the Damu Bay New City construction.
