Beijing/Washington, DC, June 26, 2003.—
The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, will extend a $22 million loan to Jilin Huazheng Agricultural Development Company Ltd. to help the company integrate and expand its pork production activities. This will be IFC’s first investment in Jilin Province, a predominantly agricultural province in northeastern China.
IFC’s investment will boost ADC’s efforts to add pig breeding farms, upgrade slaughtering capacity, and build a new processing facility to produce ready-to-eat packaged meats. ADC is a Chinese-owned private company engaged in integrated pork operations including pig breeding and slaughtering, feed processing, pork processing and biochemical pharmaceuticals manufacturing. It is teaming up with PIC-China, a subsidiary of Sygen International of the United States, the world’s leading supplier of pig genetics. ADC will also work with local breeding farms and 6,000 farming households which will raise 1.5 million pigs annually and sell them back to the company. ADC and its local partners will provide a steady market for Jilin Province’s substantial production of feed corn and soybean.
“Improved pig genetics, modern farm management methods and effective disease control practices introduced by ADC and PIC will promote the sustainability of Jilin Province’s pig industry. The income of local farming households will benefit from the faster growth rates and higher meat yields of ADC’s pigs,” said Jean-Paul Pinard, director of IFC’s Agribusiness Department. Karin Finkelston, IFC’s country manager for China, said, “The ADC project will encourage and serve as a role model for other international and private sector investment in northeastern China, where foreign investment has lagged”. In recent remarks, ADC Chairman Han Zhenfa “welcomed the close collaboration of IFC, PIC and other international partners who are energizing Jilin Province’s important agribusiness industry.”
IFC’s committed portfolio in China, including amounts held by B Loan participants, is $595 million. IFC’s strategy in the country focuses on model, high impact investments that expand the presence of and set the standards for private sector investments and specifically address the needs of poorer people and regions.
The mission of IFC is to promote sustainable private sector investment in developing countries, helping to reduce poverty and improve people's lives. IFC finances private sector investments in the developing world, mobilizes capital in the international financial markets, helps clients improve social and environmental sustainability, and provides technical assistance and advice to governments and businesses. From its founding in 1956 through FY02, IFC has committed more than $34 billion of its own funds and arranged $21 billion in syndications for 2,825 companies in 140 developing countries. IFC's worldwide committed portfolio as of FY02 was $15.1 billion for its own account and $6.5 billion held for participants in loan syndications.
