Development financing has provento be one of the efficient ways to accelerate the growth of Three Gorges Area, and China Development Bank (CDB) will stick to that policy to help develop the region, said CDB's Vice President Gao Jian Tuesday in the southwestern municipality of Chongqing.

Gao made the remarks during the on-going Forum on Economic Development and Financial Services in Three Gorges Area, where bankers and officials discussed how to provide more financial support to further develop China's west.

Gao said that, to help develop the area, CDB would also expand its business in providing bank loans to small and medium-sized companies.

Gao said that, though rich in tourist sites, minerals, water resources, plants and wildlife, the Three Gorges Area is backward in many respects, such as in that it has very few businesses and alarge poor population.

Since the Three Gorges Project started in 1993, central government departments have offered a large amount of funds to thearea, yet the financial support is far from sufficient, said Gao.

Gao said that development financing was an efficient way to lift the region out of poverty since it has improved infrastructure, logistics and created jobs by building large projects.

CDB has provided 8.6 billion yuan (about 1.07 billion US dollars) in development bank loans to the Three Gorges Area by theend of October 2005, becoming a driving force behind the area's economic development, according to Gao.