World Bank arm provides funding for projects by Xinao Gas and Shanxi Antai
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) will invest US$105 million in two projects in the mainland, despite mixed results from earlier ventures.
IFC, the private-sector arm of the World Bank, said US$35 million would be invested in Hong Kong-listed Xinao Gas Holdings and $70 million in Shanxi Antai Group, one of China's largest producers of merchant metallurgical coke.
IFC has been a major investor in the mainland, with a total of US$1.6 billion invested in the country as of last Thursday, of which $637.7 million is through loans, $474.85 million in equity and $494.87 million in syndication.
'In our first period, from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s, our record was mixed,' IFC vice-president for operations Assad Jabre said yesterday. 'We supported joint ventures between foreign firms and state companies. We did not lose much on loans but did not have exciting results on equities.
'This tracks other investors in the early stages. There was great unevenness in the treatment of the private sector. We have seen ups and downs. We are used to volatility and stand by our partners.'
According to bankers, restrictions on foreign investors left them with little say in the management of companies as they could only hold a minority stake.