BEIJING - World Bank will extend $1.5 billion in loans to China every year over the next five years, Rachel Kyte, the bank's vice-president of sustainable development, said Wednesday in Beijing.

The loans will be used to support transportation, environmental protection, natural resource management, rural poverty alleviation and renewable energy projects, Kyte said at a press conference.

She said the bank will also provide policy suggestions and loans for China to help promote the development of the country's cultural industry.

Since 1993, the bank has issued $260 million in loans to the country to finance cultural heritage protection projects, Kyte said.

The bank has thus far granted $49.15 billion in loans to support 337 projects in China since 1981, with 73 projects currently under way.