It is the first time that the World Bank has extended a credit line to a non-state company in the province.

Under an accord signed recently between the Shanxi Antai Group and the International Finance Corporation, or IFC, of the World Bank, the latter will lend US$70 million to the former. The loans involve a maturity term of 10 years, according to officials from the Chinese enterprise.

The money will be used to reduce production cost and improve product quality for the Chinese company. It will also help the company phase out its outmoded coking equipment that caused serious pollution to the environment.

Founded in 1983, the Shanxi Antai Group has developed into a listed company with more than 2 billion yuan (US$240.96 million) in gross assets. It is now one of the top three coke producers in Shanxi and a major coke supplier on the world coke market.

In late May, China and the European Union reached an agreement on coke supply, under which the nation promised to provide some 4.5 million tons of the raw materials for steel mills in Europe this year.

(Xinhua News Agency June 8, 2004)