‘China offers $3 bn in aid and loans to neighbours’

China has offered more than $3 billion in loans and aid to neighbours Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand and Laos to improve infrastructure and production, and to fight poverty, Chinese state media reported on Saturday.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said the offer included $1 billion for infrastructure, $490 million for poverty alleviation and $1.6 billion in special loans for China’s production capacity export, Xinhua news agency said. 

During a speech to the fifth summit of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Economic Cooperation in Bangkok, Li also pledged $16.4 million to dredge waterways along the Mekong River to prevent natural disasters.

“”These are important parts of our efforts to upgrade China- ASEAN cooperation ... we are ready to work with the five countries to build a new framework to deepen cooperation and bring the GMS comprehensive partnership to a new level,” Li said. 

He said China planned to export high-level production capacity in electricity, telecommunications, steel and cement to its neighbours on regional transportation routes, Xinhua reported. Li is in Thailand attending a two-day summit of leaders of Mekong River region countries, the biggest international gathering in Thailand since its military seized power.China will finance projects by offering special loans, currency swaps in cross-border transactions and by allowing a role for private enterprises, Li said.