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Tuesday, July 28, 2020, 15:41
China's new green development fund raises US$12b in phase 1
By Xinhua & Agencies
Tuesday, July 28, 2020, 15:41 By Xinhua & Agencies

Fishing boats are moored along the bank of the Yangtze in Jiangsu in January, when a 10-year-fishing ban was introduced by the central government. (MENG DELONG / FOR CHINA DAILY)

BEIJING - China’s first dedicated environmental fund, which will invest in green projects and firms, has already raised 88 billion yuan (US$12.59 billion) in its first phase, an environment ministry official said at a briefing on Tuesday.

The National Green Development Fund will mainly be used to invest in national strategic programs such as the green development of the Yangtze river region, said Zou Shoumin, a director responsible for finance at China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment

The National Green Development Fund will mainly be used to invest in national strategic programs such as the green development of the Yangtze river region, said Zou Shoumin, a director responsible for finance at China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE).

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The fund was formally launched on July 15 by the MEE, the Ministry of Finance and the Shanghai city government.

It is designed to support the “green transformation” of the Chinese economy and strengthen the role of the market in fighting pollution, environment minister Huang Runqiu said at the fund’s launch ceremony.

China has been trying to diversify its funding sources for its environmental program.

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 Over the 2016-2020 period, the central government allocated 78.3 billion yuan to combat water pollution, 97.4 billion yuan on air pollution and 28.5 billion yuan on soil pollution, as well as another 20.6 billion yuan to tackle environmental problems in rural regions, Zou said.

“We hope the central government could continue to invest in these areas during the fourteenth five-year plan (2021-2025), especially anti-air pollution, as we will coordinate the treatment of ozone pollution and PM2.5 at the same time,” he said.

A company focused on increasing the green fund--the National Green Development Fund Co Ltd--was also launched on July 15.

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Chen Yin, head of the company's preparatory group, said the group has prepared around 80 projects of various types related to green development.

Of the initially raised capital, 28.6 billion yuan was contributed by the Ministry of Finance and 11 provinces and cities along the Yangtze River, while 57.5 billion yuan came from financial institutions and 2.4 billion yuan from state-owned and private enterprises.

The establishment of the fund, which aims to focus on key areas of green development along the Yangtze River Economic Belt, will inject new impetus into the country's ecological progress.

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