China pledges US$1B loan to Caribbean countries to aid economic development
The Business Conference of the third China-Caribbean Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum in Trinidad and Tobago has brought promising results with China committing finances to support regional governments, up exports, offer scholarships, and fortify agriculture.
Guyana is among the CARICOM countries to benefit as Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan on Monday pledged US$1B of preferential loans to support  economic development of the Region.
During the opening ceremony, Wang said the Chinese government will further deepen China-Caribbean cooperation in such areas as finance and investment, capacity building, environmental protection, new energy, culture, education, health, trade, and tourism, as well as agriculture and fisheries.
In finance and investment, the China Development Bank will set up $1B in special business loans to finance infrastructure.
China will also donate $1M to the Caribbean Development Fund. In capacity building, the Chinese side will offer training courses for no less than 2,500 Caribbean nationals and 30 at the postgraduate level to study in China.  The Asian giant will also help build an early warning and monitoring network for earthquakes and tsunamis and provide training for disaster reduction and prevention.
“China will continue to support the Caribbean countries’ efforts in developing their economies, improving people’s livelihood, promoting the Caribbean regional integration process, and playing an active role in international affairs,” Wang said.
The visiting Chinese official said Beijing also wanted to discuss and sign a protection agreement with the Caribbean to promote two -way investments.
In recent years, China-Caribbean relations have maintained good momentum, with frequent high-level exchanges, deepened mutual political trust, and fruitful cooperation in trade, investment, tourism, agriculture, science and technology, and infrastructure, he said.
Over the last six years, China-Caribbean cooperation has moved on the fast track, the Chinese vice premier said, adding that bilateral trade, increased by an annual average of 24 percent, reaching $7.2B in 2010.
The China-Caribbean Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum is the highest level of economic and trade dialogue mechanism between the two sides, whose mission is to facilitate economic and trade cooperation for common development.
The first two fora were held in Kingston, the capital of Jamaica, in February 2005, and in Xiamen, China, in September 2007.
According to a white paper on China’s foreign aid issued by China’s State Council on April 21, by the end of 2009, China had aided 161 countries and more than 30 international and regional organizations, including 123 developing countries. Of them, 30 are in Asia, 51 in Africa, 18 in Latin America and the Caribbean, and 12 each in Oceania and in Eastern Europe. Asia and Africa, home to the largest poor populations, have gotten about 80% of China’s foreign aid.