China's Ministry of Culture confirmed on Tuesday that it reached an agreement with the Export-Import Bank of China (China Exim) to provide no less than a 20-billion-yuan (US$2.9 billion) credit line to cultural industries.

China Exim, one of the country's three policy banks, will grant loans over the next five years to help cultural industries expand exports, Xu Rong, an official from the Department of Cultural Industry with the Ministry, told Xinhua.

In China, cultural industries include producers and distributors of cultural products and services, such as publishing, music, television and film production as well as crafts and design.

The Ministry will first form a list of candidate companies or projects and hand it to a panel of experts to evaluate their potential for development. Then China Exim will review the list, evaluate investment risk and decide which companies will get the loan, according to the agreement reached on March 9.

The first list of candidates will be prepared by the end of April and they will be recommended to China Exim in June, Xu said. The selection and recommendation process will be conducted twice a year over the next five years.

"Chinese cultural enterprises are in most cases small and medium-sized and have difficulty financing their projects," Xu said. "The Ministry of Culture can act as an intermediary to help potential enterprises establish ties with financial institutions and get the capital they need."

"As long as key enterprises and projects recommended by the Ministry are in line with our lending policies and regulations, we will give them full support in credit," said Li Ruogu, the China Exim president.

The first credit line under this framework, of 10 billion yuan, was granted on March 9 to Shenzhen Huaqiang Holdings Ltd., which produces cartoons and develops entertainment technologies applied in theme parks.

The fund will be used to promote exports of their products and other operations abroad, said Liang Guangwei, the company's president, in a statement on the company website, issued March 10.

"Cooperation with China Exim will enhance our financial capability and promote exports. We hope to contribute more to the international standing of Chinese cultural products and services," Liang said.

The Ministry hoped other firms in cultural industries would make full use of the platform set up by the agreement and sharpen their competitiveness as export-oriented cultural enterprises, Xu said.

(Xinhua News Agency March 17, 2009)