Bank of China to stop financing new coal mining, power projects overseas

Bank of China has committed to no longer provide financing for new coal mining and coal-fired power projects overseas, starting from the fourth quarter of this year, except for the projects whose contracts the bank has already signed.

The Beijing-based large State-owned commercial lender announced on Friday that it recently drew an action plan to serve China in terms of peaking carbon emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060. In this way, the bank has created a roadmap for the implementation of its green finance plan during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25) in 15 aspects, including the organizational structure, business development strategies, product innovation, stress tests and international cooperation.

BOC said it plans to offer no less than 1 trillion yuan ($154.64 billion) to support the green industry during China's 14th Five-Year Plan period and to increase the ratio of green credit to total loans year by year. It will increase the proportion of the balance of domestic green corporate loans in the balance of domestic corporate loans by no less than 5 percentage points from the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20) and will even strive to make an increase of 10 percentage points.

The bank will also accelerate the credit granting structure by industry, strengthen the management and control of the balance of loans to energy-intensive and pollution-intensive industries, and increase credit support for green projects, including the upgrading of emission reduction technologies, the clean and efficient utilization of fossil fuels, and thermal power flexibility transformation, during the 14th Five-Year Plan period.

BOC has made great efforts in supporting sustainable development of the global economy. As of the end of June, its balance of domestic green credit exceeded 1 trillion yuan, up more than 15 percent from the beginning of this year.