World Bank offers loan

The World Bank has approved a US$150 million loan package for a project to improve irrigation and water management in the arid northwestern Xinjiang region. The project aims to increase agricultural production in economically depressed parts of the Tarim Basin in southern Xinjiang, raising the incomes of about 200,000 poor households, the World Bank said. It said improved water management would 'greatly increase' yields of wheat, maize, rice, cotton and sugar beet.