BEIJING - The Export-Import Bank of China, a wholly state-owned bank, said on Thursday it will lend $400 million for building four liquified natural gas (LNG) carriers.

The bank said the four carriers, each with a shipment capacity of 174,000 cubic meters, belong to four companies, including CNOOC Energy Technology and Services, China LNG Shipping Limited, Teekay LNG Partners and BW's LNG investment arm.

Shanghai-based Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding Co, Ltd, a core enterprise under the China State Shipbuilding Corporation, will build the carriers, the bank said.

An LNG carrier is a tank ship designed for transporting liquified natural gas, and it demands the highest technologies in shipbuilding. So far the bank has provided $1.7 billion in financial support for the building of 16 large LNG carriers, the biggest in terms of bank lending in the country.

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