The Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced on Monday it will offer a 4.5-billion-US-dollar loan, which will run from 2006 to 2008, to help China fight against poverty.

ADB's newly released Country Strategy and Program for China specifies that in the next three years, it will devote its loan mainly to poverty alleviation as it did in the past. Apart from the above loan, the ADB said the lending program would be complemented by about 11 million USD donation fund over the three-year period.

The bank said around 85 per cent of the projects will be located in central and western provinces under its planned assistance program. The program includes projects that support road and railway infrastructure, provide electricity to rural areas, and support water resource management to minimize damage from droughts and floods.

By People's Daily Online