(Yicai Global) Nov. 30 -- The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has passed a USD1 billion loan to help recovery efforts in China’s central Henan province after it was badly hit by record rainfall in July, causing billions of US dollars’ worth of damage.

The loan will help to rebuild infrastructure in the three most affected cities of Zhengzhou, Xinxiang and Jiaozuo and strengthen flood risk management and flood emergency response in the long term, the Beijing-based multilateral development bank said yesterday.

The flooding killed 302 people, displaced 933,800 people and affected 14.5 million people in 150 cities. It destroyed crops, homes, buildings, roads, bridges, water utilities, drainage systems, dikes and dams, causing direct economic losses of CNY114.3 billion (USD17.9 billion).

“The project reinforces our commitment to work with our members to drive action on climate change,” said AIIB President Jin Liqun. "AIIB will continue to prioritize projects that enhance investments in climate adaptation and resilience to promote sustainable green infrastructure development and support our members in achieving their development goals."

“Climate change is leading to more frequent extreme events and consequently increasing the likelihood of severe floods and other disasters,” said Konstantin Limitovskiy, vice president of investment operations. “The loan not only aims to address immediate post-disaster recovery needs in Henan, but also to improve its climate adaptation capacity and resilience of infrastructure.”

Editor: Kim Taylor