The China Development Bank (CDB), a major policy bank, has issued student loans worth a total of 28.7 billion yuan (about 4 billion U.S. dollars) so far this year.

The loans have funded 4.01 million students with financial difficulties from 2,904 Chinese universities and colleges, said the CDB in a statement.

The institution estimated that it would extend accumulated more than 160 billion yuan of student loans to 12 million students by the end of 2018.

Besides financial aid, several other measures were taken by the CDB to upgrade student loan services, including easing procedures, promoting paperless loan applications and providing job opportunities.

With the support of the CDB, more than 40 job fairs have been held for students with financial difficulties, offering about 450,000 jobs.

Founded in 1994, the CDB is designed to provide finance to major national projects and development strategies.