Bank of China to extend RMB 80-bln credit line to CSSC

Jul. 2, 2009 (China Knowledge) - Bank of China (BOC)<601988><3988>, the largest foreign exchange lender in China, on Wednesday signed an all-round cooperation agreement with China State Shipbuilding Corp (CSSC), the country's biggest ship builder, the Shanghai Securities News reported.

Under the terms of the agreement, BOC will extend a credit line of RMB 80 billion to CSSC to fund the latter's businesses, which include shipbuilding and ship repair.

In addition, the two sides will establish a long-term, stable and mutually beneficial partnership and will cooperate in areas such as commercial banking, investment banking and insurance.

BOC will also take advantage of its buyer's credit business to support CSSC's exports.

BOC, one of the Big Four state-owned lenders in China, announced earlier that it will issue RMB 40 billion worth of subordinated bonds on Jul. 6. The bonds include RMB 18 billion in ten-year fixed-rate subordinated bonds, RMB 18 billion in 15-year fixed-rate subordinated bonds and RMB 4 billion in ten-year floating-rate subordinated bonds, according to an earlier report from China Knowledge.