Strong growth momentum comes as a result of adhering to new philosophy

China Development Bank, one of China's major banks, has faithfully implemented the new development philosophy of innovation, coordination, green growth, openness and sharing in 2021 and made remarkable achievements in pushing forward the country's high-quality development.

CDB delivered strong growth momentum in 2021 as it adhered to the new development philosophy when serving the real economy, preventing financial risks and deepening financial reforms, a bank executive said.

Last year, the bank registered 2.99 trillion yuan ($473 billion) worth of loans in renminbi and foreign currencies. Meanwhile, its RMB loan balance rose by 650 billion yuan. The loans were used to support the country's key development strategies and address weaknesses, ensuring a strong start to the nation's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), CDB said.

Fostering innovation

CDB has continued to optimize its financial services in recent years with the aim of creating a virtuous circle for finance, industries and research.

It adopted market-oriented approaches to help basic research solve funding difficulties, while working closely with universities, research institutes and high-tech enterprises to advance the application and transformation of key technologies.

Last year, a special loan was set up for major scientific and technological research.

CDB said the loan will reach 300 billion yuan by the end of 2025 and provide long-term support to national laboratories and national technological innovation centers.

The bank also put a heavy emphasis on advanced manufacturing industries and strategic emerging industries, with loans of 491.7 billion yuan handed out in 2021, according to CDB's data.

The money was mainly invested in industrial upgrades, key industrial chains and new infrastructure construction including 5G base stations and big data centers, CDB said.

Coordinated initiative

In January, the Hangzhou-Shaoxing-Taizhou intercity high-speed railway was put into operation in East China's Zhejiang province.

With a maximum designed speed of 350 kilometers per hour, the 266.9-km new line greatly shortens travel time between major cities in Zhejiang and will boost high-quality development in the Yangtze River Delta region.

CDB made loans of 12 billion yuan to the project, accounting for 26.7 percent of the total investment.

"It's a shining example of how CDB facilitated the integrated regional development," a representative from the bank said.

By the end of last year, the Yangtze River Delta region received loans of up to 480.4 billion yuan from CDB, involving fields such as infrastructure construction, public services and international cooperation.

The bank has strengthened collaboration with local authorities and established an interdepartmental mechanism to implement the country's key strategies for regional development, the representative said. In the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the bank focuses on transportation, environmental protection and industrial upgrades. It granted loans of 558.7 billion yuan in 2021 to support projects such as the Daxing International Airport Economic Zone and the intelligent container wharves in Tianjin Port. It made breakthroughs in the integrated transport of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the industrial upgrading action and the environmental protection.

To promote the development of the Yellow River basin, CDB teamed up with nine provincial-level regions along the river, including Shanxi and Gansu, while also providing 149.6 billion yuan for water conservation, cultural preservation and infrastructure construction. In addition, the bank financed a comprehensive national science center in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area as part of its efforts to help the area become a sci-tech powerhouse in the coming years.