China’s BCFL lands $150m loan with BRICS’ NDB to fund LNG carriers

^{Photo credit: New Development Bank (NDB)}

The Shanghai-headquartered New Development Bank (NDB) and the Bank of Communications Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. (BCFL) have signed a $150m equivalent in RMB 1,069.23m loan agreement to buy at least three liquified natural gas (LNG) carriers.

This move aims to address China’s surging demand for LNG while closing the gap between demand and supply of LNG carrier capacity.

This project is the first non-sovereign loan granted by NDB to a non-banking financial institution in China.

The financial leasing company BCFL was founded as a wholly owned subsidiary of BoCom in 2007 with the headquarter in Shanghai, China.

On the other hand, the NDB is a multilateral development bank established by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) with the purpose of mobilising resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in emerging markets and developing countries (EMDCs).

NDB and the Bank of Communications (BoCom) signed a memorandum of understanding in 2016 to establish a long-term strategic partnership.

According to NDB, this collaboration further strengthens their ties and highlights