Chinese State Councilor Chen Zhili ordered increased efforts to build Mianyang Scientific and Technological City in southwest China's Sichuan province into a major innovation base.

Chen issued the instructions Thursday at a meeting in Sichuan on the construction of the base.

The State Council approved the program on the development of the Mianyang Scientific and Technological City and established an inter-ministerial coordination group to support construction of the city in July 2001.

So far, 939 businesses have settled in the city, including 118 large and medium-sized ones. Annual GDP of the city has reached 21.3 billion yuan (approximately 2.57 billion US dollars).

Mianyang is a major scientific research base for national defense and a major electronic industrial base in China. China's major TV maker Changhong is based in the city.

China's largest computer manufacturer, Lenovo, said it had acquired a five-year syndicated bank loan totaling 600 million US dollars Thursday for its purchase of IBM personal computer business.

The main banks granting the loan are the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia) Limited, the BNP Bank, the ABN AMRO Bank and the Standard Chartered Bank. Other participating banks include 16 banks from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and other parts of Asia, America and Europe.

Lenovo's recent purchase of IBM's PC division won the United States' government approval following a review by the Committee on

Foreign Investment. The deal is due to be finalized by mid-year.

Source: Xinhua