On Wednesday the National Bureau of Statistics and the National Development and Reform Commission announced that they had confirmed with the World Bank that China's national per capita national income has reached US$1,740.

According to WB regulations, the time limit on hard loans (long-term loans and loans with interest) must be cut from 20 to 17 years when a country's national per capita income is between US$1,676 and US$3,465. All loans negotiated after July 1 this year will be reduced from 20 to 17 years. Grace periods will also be cut accordingly.

Last April, the Commission and the Ministry of Finance consulted with the WB about the scale of loans for the 2007 to 2009 fiscal years. Loan amounts will not vary in the next three years; they range between 1 and 1.5 billion dollars and the total amount borrowed will not exceed 4.5 billion.

Most loans China has received from the WB have been directed to infrastructure construction. On June 27 this year, the WB's board of executive directors ratified four Chinese projects, with loans totaling 668 million dollars, which will be mainly used to improve environment and transportation facilities. 

(People's Daily Online August 18, 2006)