(Yicai Global) Sept. 26 -- China Development Bank Co. (CDB), a policy bank under China's State Council, will initiate the Pan-Pearl River Delta (PPRD) development fund for regional cooperation of USD15.11 billion (CNY100 billion), announced the 2017 Pan-Pearl River Delta Regional Cooperation Chief Executive Joint Conference held in Changsha, in south-central Hunan Province.

 The fund's first financing is USD1.5 billion, with a duration of one decade, and with a parallel fund to be set up in the future, whose first group of investors will include large central enterprises, direct government funds and large financial institutions, with an expected total investment of at least USD755.41 million, with the rest raised by local governments and other financial institutions and businesses.

 The fund will promote the construction of major cooperative projects across regions and river basins in the PPRD, and provide targeted support and investment in view of the industrial characteristics and advantages of provinces in the PPRD through direct equity investment, mezzanine investment, endowment of sub-funds and other forms.

 The joint conference also unveiled its initiative to jointly build a PPRD high-speed rail economic belt to achieve a higher level of open and coordinated development relying on high-speed rail networks. Five high-speed railway lines have already been built in the area, and another three are under construction. This has laid a sound foundation for building the economic belt, believes Liu Siwei, government counselor of Hunan province.

 The PPRD encompasses nine provinces and two special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macao) in southern, southeastern and southwestern China, and extends across one-fifth of China's land area. It has one-third of the country's total population and nearly one-third of the overall economy.