China Development Bank Proposes Taking on Sole Local-Lender Role

China Development Bank Corp., the nation’s largest policy lender, is proposing to become the sole financier to local governments as mounting debt threatens efforts to promote urbanization.

The evaluation of loans, extension of credit and debt servicing to the nation’s towns and cities should be centralized under CDB or another bank chosen through bidding, Hu Huaibang, chairman of the policy lender, wrote in the official Qiushi magazine. Tackling the problem of local-government debt is necessary to help promote urbanization, he wrote.