By staff reporter Wang Ziwu

(Caijing.com.cn) The Asia Development Bank and Export-Import Bank of China have signed a framework co-financing agreement to provide at least US$ 3 billion for projects in developing Asian nations.

The agreement was signed on May 4 at ADB's 42nd Annual Meeting in Bali, and will run for three years starting June 2009, according to a statement released by the ADB. The funds will be earmarked for healthcare, power, transportation and other priority projects to help the region weather the global economic downturn.

China has been expanding its influence in development funding in recent months, signing currency swap agreements and offering to back infrastructure projects in developing countries. Beijing's longer-term plan is to build up the yuan as an international reserve currency, and is running trial programs to expand the use of the yuan in regional trade. 

The agreement with the ADB builds on a memorandum of understanding signed by the two parties in March 2006, simplifying access to financing for governments, sub-sovereign borrowers and private firms, particularly for infrastructure projects.

ADB and China Ex-im Bank will hold annual meetings to determine which projects will be eligible for co-financing and streamline their operating procedures.

Also in Bali, Japan and China have agreed to each contribute USD 38.4 billion to a USD 120 billion regional foreign-exchange reserve pool, with South Korea contributing another USD 19.2 billion.

The 2:2:1 distribution ratio was set May 3 at a meeting of regional finance ministers.

In February, finance ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Japan, China and South Korea decided to increase the size of the reserve pool to USD 120 billion from 80 billion. The remaining USD 24 billion will be split between the 10 other contributing nations.

The fund, the first of its kind in Asian, will reduce the participating nations'dependence on the International Monetary Fund for bailouts in times of economic crisis, while also boosting investor confidence in the region.

Full articles in Chinese: http://www.caijing.com.cn/2009-05-05/110159916.html 
                                   http://www.caijing.com.cn/2009-05-04/110159270.html