Aerial photo taken on June 30, 2022 shows a scenery of the Yangtze River in Yibin, southwest China's Sichuan Province. (Xinhua/Wang Xi)

BEIJING, July 28 (Xinhua) -- The China Development Bank, one of the country's policy banks, has issued 12 billion yuan (about 1.78 billion U.S. dollars) of green bonds for the protection and restoration of the ecological system in the Yangtze River basin.

The raised funds will be used to support green projects such as water pollution treatment, agricultural and rural environment improvement, as well as water resource conservation.

It is estimated that these projects could help cut carbon dioxide emissions by around 394,000 tonnes and reduce standard coal consumption by 168,800 tonnes per year.

With a three-year maturity and an interest rate of 2.15 percent, the bonds were issued in the interbank bond market.

So far, the lender has floated 144 billion yuan of green bonds.