Bank of China to open in PNG

8:28 pm on 30 April 2019

The Bank of China will open a branch in Papua New Guinea after an agreement was signed between the two countries.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and officials meet with Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister Peter O'Neill and ministerial colleagues in Beijing, April 25, 2019.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and officials meet with Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister Peter O'Neill and ministerial colleagues in Beijing, April 25, 2019. Photo: Xinhua/Yan Yan

Prime Minister Peter O'Neill met with China's premier, Li Keqiang, on the sidelines of last week's One Belt One Road Forum in Beijing.

There, a memorandum of understanding was signed for the bank to open an office in Beijing.

Meanwhile, a PNG official who attended the forum in Beijing has revealed he was there seeking funding for a rural electrification programme.

PNG's secretary for communications, IT and energy, John Avira told the Financial Times he was seeking Chinese funding for the programme to power communities in his country's remote rural areas.

Last November, when PNG hosted the APEC summit, the government signed an agreement with Australia , New Zealand, Japan and the US for the Rural Electrification Programme.

The US $1.7 billion partnership aims to electrify 70 percent of PNG by 2030.

"I think they were just reacting to the Chinese," Mr Avira said.