The Asian Development Bank is extending CNY800 million in a partial credit guarantee program that will support private sector-led energy efficiency projects in China.

Under the pilot program, ADB is partnering with Johnson Controls, a private energy management company, and financial institutions such as Standard Chartered China to retrofit existing buildings to save energy, and to support the construction of new energy-efficient green buildings. The management company will identify buildings with energy savings potential, while ADB will share the project credit risks with the financial institutions.

The need to improve energy efficiency in China has been growing with the country now the world's second-largest energy consumer and one of the leading contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, commercial banks in China need further expertise to make technical evaluations of energy efficiency projects, to ensure the availability of project financing.

The Energy Efficiency Multi-Project Financing Program will improve access to domestic finance for a large number of energy end users seeking to make efficiency improvements, by retrofitting existing buildings energy savings of 20%-40% can be achieved in many cases.

The program is part of ADB's Energy Efficiency Initiative which aims to provide at least USD1 billion a year for funding energy efficiency and clean energy projects.