The first 23 Chinese listed companies have secured loans totaling more than 10 billion yuan (about 1.40 billion U.S. dollars) from the central bank's special re-lending facility for share buybacks and increasing stockholdings, according to the announcements made by several commercial banks on Monday.
The companies are distributed across the main boards, the sci-tech innovation board, and ChiNext, China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, in the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses.
The People's Bank of China (PBOC) launched the special re-lending facility on Friday last week with the aim to guide banks to provide loans to listed companies and their major shareholders for buybacks and increasing shareholdings.
The initial re-lending scale is 300 billion yuan at an interest rate of 1.75 percent. The facility can be applied to various types of companies regardless of their ownership, according to the central bank.
The re-lending facility offers low-cost funds to financial institutions, which in turn helps reduce the financing costs for listed companies and major shareholders. It also helps enhance the inherent stability of China's capital market, maintain stable operation of the market and boost market confidence, according to experts.
First batch of Chinese listed companies secure loans for share buybacks, increasing stockholdings
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday arrived in Kazan, capital city of Russia's Republic of Tatarstan, to attend the 16th BRICS Summit, at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russian officials greeted Xi at the airport. Among them were head of Russia's Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov, Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan Aleksei Pesoshin and Mayor of Kazan Ilsur Metshin.
A guard of honor lined up on both sides of a red carpet to salute the Chinese leader, and Russian youths dressed in national costumes welcomed him with traditional courtesy.
Xi's entourage, including Cai Qi, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau and director of the General Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, and Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister, arrived on the same plane. Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui welcomed President Xi at the airport.
During the summit scheduled for Tuesday to Thursday, Xi is set to attend small- and large-group leaders' meetings and the BRICS Plus leaders' dialogue, and will deliver important speeches. Xi will also have in-depth exchanges with other state leaders on the current international situation, practical BRICS cooperation, the development of the BRICS mechanism and other important issues of common concern.
BRICS is the acronym for an emerging-market cooperative mechanism that initially comprised Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. In January, it expanded its membership to include Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Iran and Ethiopia.
Xi arrives in Russia's Kazan for BRICS Summit
