CDB will provide a one-year, $110m loan and$55m in three-year credit, Yingli said in a statement.

New York-listed Yingli – the world’s largestsupplier of PV modules in 2012, but with $2.5bn of debt on its books – will usethe funds to buy raw materials and shore up its working capital.

Reports inChina late last year suggested the CDB had been asked by the Chinese governmentto prioritise lending to a group of key players in the country’s solar sector,as part of an effort to drive consolidation and spur domestic demand.

Sincethen