The China Development Bank (CDB), a financial institution under the direct jurisdiction of the State Council of China, on Monday opened its Moscow office.

Addressing the opening ceremony, CDB Deputy Governor Gao Jian said the inauguration of the office would not only expand CDB's operation in Russia, but also promote the advancement of Sino- Russian financial cooperation as well as all-round trade and economic interaction.

One chief task of the Moscow office would be research on economic and financial issues, project tracking and development, business planning and external communications, said Gao.

The office would further enrich financial cooperation between China and Russia via professional team working and innovative financial ideas, with a special focus on boosting and supporting major projects in key cooperative sectors, he added.

To date CDB has been engaged in 19 projects in Russia, with a total commitment of US$36.4 billion and the contracts amounting to US$36.1 billion, he noted. It also had loans to Russia worth US$23.3 billion, the largest among Chinese financial institutions.

Statistics showed that by the end of June this year, the international cooperative operations of CDB had covered 89 countries, with its foreign exchange loans hitting US$114.28 billion. It also was China's largest bank in foreign investment and financing.

(Xinhua News Agency September 21, 2010)