China Development Bank (CDB) issued loans worth 64.3 billion yuan (US$8.3 billion) to northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in the past six years.

Zheng Xudong, head of the CDB Xinjiang Branch, said on Sunday it has given active support to "20 key sectors", including water control, construction of highways, small and medium-sized enterprises and mining resources, as well as harnessing major local rivers.

In 2006 alone, CDB earmarked 115 million yuan (US$14.8 million) of loans to help Xinjiang deal with emergency incidents such as bird flu, earthquakes and food safety.

The bank also gave the region its first foreign currency loan of US$178 million to help boost cooperation and exchanges between local firms and overseas companies.

CDB's loans for capital projects in Xinjiang over the past six years account for roughly 70 percent of the total lending the region received, Zheng said.

The CDB will invest more in Xinjiang in the years to come to boost all-round development, he added.

(Xinhua News Agency February 12, 2007)