BEIJING: The International Finance Corporation, the World Bank's private investment arm, expects to provide over US$600 million in funding for China in fiscal 2007, Chinese state media said Sunday.

This means China will maintain its position as the third-largest destination of investment from the IFC during the fiscal year ending June 30, the Xinhua news agency reported.

The final figure would be "similar" to that of fiscal 2006, when a total of US$639 million of IFC funds entered China, Xinhua said, citing the corporation's executive vice president Lars Thunell.

Half the funds in 2007 will be for the financial sector. But 40 per cent of the IFC's total investments and advisory services in China will go towards developing private sectors in the country's rural and less developed areas, Xinhua said.

According to the IFC's annual report for fiscal 2006, Russia was the largest recipient of funding, followed by Brazil and China.

- AFP/yy