31 May 2015 – Chinese policy banks perform better since launch of Belt and Road Initiative

LONDON, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Since the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese policy banks have performed better than previously, Henry Tillman, chairman and founder of London-based China Investment Research, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"There is nothing to lead us to conclude that AIIB would not continue such performance in the future," he said, commenting on the China-proposed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

China Investment Research, which is owned by London-based merchant bank Grisons Peak, said in a new report that Chinese policy banks' loans over the past five quarters seem "clearly aligned" with the Belt and Road Initiative, while loan performance has been excellent as the loans were directly linked to China-based corporations.

The research was based on 67 Chinese government-related loans from January 2014 to March 31, 2015,

Ninety-one percent of all loan commitment volume of China Development Bank (CDB) and the Export-Import Bank of China (CEXIM) was located across Asia, Africa and Europe, the report said.

Among them, Asia led with 39 percent of volume and 34 percent of committed amounts, followed by Africa with 34 percent of volume and 23 percent of total amounts, while Europe had 18 percent of volume, it added.

After removing six Latin American loans and 10 Central and Western African loans, 76 percent of the pro forma loan volume was in or near portions of the Belt and Road Initiative, which means China's policy loans during this period seem clearly aligned with the initiative, said the report.

The research showed that Infrastructure/Energy Infrastructure led with 52 percent of total volume, followed by Trade Finance with 30 percent and financial industry with 13 percent.