Anhui Huangshan Xin'an Ecological Protection and Green Development Project

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The loan is intended to finance measures that contribute to water protection, particularly in rural regions, and that support the transition to agriculture that is more oriented towards ecological criteria. The project is located in the Huangshan Municipality on the Xinan River (Anhui Province, PRC), which lies in the catchment area of the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB). Around 40% of the Chinese population live in the YREB and around 45% of China's GDP is generated there. The rapid economic development of the past decades has also led to increasing pressures on the ecosystem in the YREB, increased water consumption and contamination of water and soil. Around 1.5 million people live in the project area of the Xinan River. The area is characterized by the negative side effects of uncoordinated urbanization and intensive agricultural cultivation. The project is intended to support the transition to a more ecologically oriented and sustainable development (green development). Specifically, the project, in co-financing with the ADB, finances the rehabilitation of the sewage system in urban parts of Huangshan; the construction of decentralized wastewater treatment plants in rural areas of the Huangshan Municipality, the construction of fresh water pipes and house connections, the support of the conversion to ecologically oriented landscape techniques; the establishment of a Green Investment Fund from which SMEs will receive financial support for investments in sustainable and environmentally friendly technologies as well as the establishment of an environmental management and monitoring system.