A consortium of banks led by the Citigroup and HSBC has offered a loan of 200 million US dollars to a leading Chinese port machinery producer in Shanghai.

The consortium includes altogether 20 well-known international banks, such as the Japanese Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Ltd, French BNP Parisbas, Italian Banca di Roma, Belgian KBC Bank N.V, Bank of China (Hong Kong), and Construction Bank of China.

Guan Tongxian, president of the Shanghai Zhenhua Port Machinery Co. Ltd. (ZPMC), said Wednesday at the signing ceremony that it is the first time that the ZPMC has applied for such a large-scale consortium loan.

"The loan will help the ZPMC with its circulating fund in the upcoming years," Guan said.

"The participation of foreign banks reflects their confidence in the future of the ZPMC and the Chinese economic development as well," Guan added.

Huang Xiaoguang, managing director and head of the Corporate Bank, Citigroup (China), said that the signing of the syndication loan is one of the most successful cases the Citigroup has done in China and will inevitably accelerate the progress of both the Citigroup and ZPMC.

Liang Weining of the HSBC said that all the participating banks are very active in the whole process. "The HSBC is very optimistic about the prospect of Chinese economy and has invested 5 billion US dollars in China," she said.

The ZPMC is a world-famous manufacturer of cranes and large steel structures.

According to the survey made by the World Cargo News in England, the ZPMC has had the largest order book for large container cranes during the last seven years. ZPMC's products are deployed in 49 countries and regions, and over 90 terminals around the world.

Source: Xinhua