DBS arranges largest Chongqing loan by foreign bank

Chongqing Grain Group, the largest Chinese state-owned grain producer in Southwest China, signed its first syndicated loan on Wednesday, and chose to borrow from a foreign bank.

The three-year of $187.5 million loan facility was arranged by DBS Bank and is the largest syndicated loan arranged by a foreign bank in the city of Chongqing.

For decades, China’s largest state-owned banks have funneled people’s savings at cheap interest rates into state-owned enterprises, a process that spurred industrial overcapacity and suppressed consumer consumption.

Since taking office in March, China’s new leaders have said repeatedly they will unleash market forces to rein in excessive lending and...