CHINA has offered more than US$3 billion in loans and aid to neighbors Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand and Laos to improve infrastructure and production and to fight poverty, domestic media reported Saturday.

    Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said the offer included US$1 billion for infrastructure, US$490 million for poverty alleviation and US$1.6 billion in special loans for China’s production capacity export, the Xinhua news agency said.

    During a speech to the fifth summit of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Economic Cooperation in Bangkok, Li also pledged US$16.4 million to dredge waterways along the Mekong River to prevent natural disasters.

    Li said China planned to export high-level production capacity in electricity, telecommunications, steel and cement to its neighbors on regional transportation routes, Xinhua reported.

    Li was in Thailand attending a two-day summit of leaders of Mekong River region countries, the biggest international gathering in Thailand since its military seized power.

    China will finance projects by offering special loans, currency swaps in cross-border transactions and by allowing a role for private enterprises, Li said.

    On Friday, the Chinese Government said it would build an 867-kilometer rail network in Thailand and buy 2 million tons of its rice.

    Li offered US$20 billion in loans for Southeast Asia during a regional meeting in Myanmar last month.

    (SD-Agencies)