Exclusive | Shanghai's Disney park major beneficiary of HK$314b Agbank loan

The Agricultural Bank of China has just sprinkled a lot of magic over Shanghai in the form of a huge loan, and the beneficiaries will include Mickey and Minnie and friends.

Agbank, one of the Big Four state lenders, has signed an agreement with the city government for a 250 billion yuan (HK$314 billion) loan - equivalent to 12.5 per cent of Shanghai's GDP last year.

The loan will help fund the government-controlled joint venture that is building China's second Disneyland and pay for improvements needed to implement the city's much-heralded free-trade zone.

Senior government officials insist the loan does not mean Beijing will launch a nationwide economic stimulus package - as it did in 2008 - to ensure the world's second-biggest economy grows 7.5 per cent this year, the target agreed by leaders, including President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang earlier this year.

Other banks may quickly copy Agbank's huge loan plan for Shanghai and support other areas such as Guangdong province, where the export industry has been badly hit, the sources say.