(Yicai Global) Dec. 6 -- The head of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the world's biggest lender by assets, has said the bank will set aside CNY2 trillion (USD284.4 billion) to finance the development of important industries in the Yangtze River Delta region.

Gu Shu said at a recent economic forum that the Beijing-based bank will back innovative industries, infrastructure construction and sustainable environment policies in order to build a world-class manufacturing cluster and promote regional integration, the Paper reported today.

The announcement comes on the heels of an ambitious five-year blueprint published by the country's cabinet earlier this week promoting further economic integration in the region, an area already similar in economic size to Russia and India.

Areas of focus include the upgrading of conventional industries in electronic information, biomedicine, aerospace, automotive, green chemicals and other innovative fields, Gu added.

The bank will set up a financial innovation center, a cross-border business hub and a financial exchange market center in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone's Lingang New Area, Gu added. These will facilitate links between domestic and overseas funds as well as clients and products to establish an offshore financial system.

The Yangtze River Delta region straddles Shanghai and parts of Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui provinces. It is one of China's most densely populated areas with a population of 150 million. One of the country's most economically developed areas, it has a high degree of opening-up and strong capacity for innovation.