China's CCB signs $4.3 billion of debt/equity swaps with coal, steel firms

China Construction Bank Corp (CCB) has signed around 30 billion yuan ($4.31 billion) worth of debt-for-equity swaps with eastern Anhui province's state-owned coal and steel firms, the official Xinhua news agency said late on Wednesday. Since China's policymakers re-launched the debt-for-equity scheme in October to ease the borrowing overhang of its struggling firms, the country's banks have rushed to sign deals with state-owned enterprises to ease their burden. CCB also agreed to provide Huainan Mining, Huaibei Mining and Wanbei Coal-Electricity Group with more than 30 billion yuan worth of credit within the next 5 years.