BEIJING -- Bank of China (BOC) will increase financial support for Hong Kong-based Phoenix Television as part of its efforts to support the development of the country's cultural industry, according to an agreement signed between the two companies on March 9.

Under the agreement, BOC and Phoenix TV will strengthen cooperation in the corporate banking, personal banking and investment banking businesses, the country's third-largest lender said in a statement posted on its website on March 11.

"BOC will offer high-quality financial services to Phoenix TV to help it become a world-class media group," BOC President Xiao Gang said in the statement.

In recent years, BOC has paid great attention to launching cooperations with cultural firms. Its lending to the cultural sector grew at a much higher rate than average, according to the statement.

By the end of December, BOC had extended 32.03 billion yuan ($5.08 billion) in loans to more than 1,700 cultural companies.

Besides TV, Phoenix TV is committed to developing its services through other media, including the Internet, its weekly magazine, outdoor electronic screens and radio.