Bank of China (BOC) will provide loans to the country's biggest aluminum producer Aluminum Corp of China (Chinalco) to finance the latter's acquisition of Rio Tinto Ltd, the bank's President Li Lihui said on Thursday.

Chinalco will inject US$19.5 billion into Rio Tinto Ltd, the London-based miner announced on Feb 12. This will increase Chinalco's stake in the miner to 18 percent, from the 9 percent it held earlier.

"It is good timing for Chinese enterprises to run overseas M&A, particularly in resources and commodities sectors, and we will give them a shot in the arm," Li told reporters on the sidelines of the annual session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

(China Daily March 6, 2009)