Brussels, 03/12/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 3 December, the European Investment Bank (EIB) granted a €300 million loan to the People's Republic of China (PRC) for projects supporting climate change mitigation. The loan agreement sealed between the EIB and the PRC Finance Ministry provides for a multi-investment scheme under which the Bank could support several individual climate change mitigating projects on renewable energies and energy efficiency. The aim is to mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Recalling that a first loan of this kind to China had resulted in a reduction of over 3 million tonnes of CO2, EIB Vice-President Magdalena Álvarez Arza, said: “We are looking forward to achieving the same performance with this second framework loan”. She went on to add that “this new loan is coming at an opportune time, when the whole world is gathering in Cancun to reach an agreement on climate change actions”. (O.L./transl.jl)