TOKYO, March 17 (UPI) -- Japan will stop making yen loans to China before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said Thursday.
Machimura said that he and Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing had reached a fundamental agreement for Japan to stop yen loans, the Mainichi Shimbun reported Thursday.
"China's economy has developed and the country is now able to raise its own funds," Machimura said. "It's not necessary for us to continue making yen loans."
Japanese officials have gradually cut back on loans in consultation with Chinese officials. Loans for fiscal 2004 amounted to $824.3 million, down 11 percent from the previous year.
Japan's policy of lending to China to support the country's economic development began in 1980. By the end of fiscal 2003, the loans had totaled some $28.7 billion.
