GUANGZHOU, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The Export-Import Bank of China and Standard Chartered Bank on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for cooperation under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The two banks agreed to give full play to their respective advantages and enhance exchange on information communication and knowledge to jointly provide financial support and services for the Belt and Road projects through cooperation in fields including syndicated loans, financial markets and trade finance, according to the MoU.

The two sides said that it requires multiple sources of funding and professional collaboration to promote the high-quality development of Belt and Road projects.

Supporting the Belt and Road construction is one of the priorities of the Export-Import Bank of China, which has supported more than 1,800 projects in countries participating in BRI with a loan balance amount of more than 1 trillion yuan (about 149.25 billion U.S. dollars), according to its president Zhang Qingsong.

In 2018, the Standard Chartered Bank was involved in about 100 BRI projects, with the combined financing of more than 20 billion U.S. dollars.