MANILA - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is extending a $200 million loan for infrastructure upgrades to improve the living conditions and to open up new economic opportunities in three seaport cities in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region of China, the bank announced on Monday.

"Improving public facilities will help reverse the current deterioration in the quality of life for many citizens, especially the poor and rural migrants," said Satoshi Ishii, Urban Development Specialist in ADB's East Asia Department.

"It will also boost growth and investment in Guangxi which provides a crucial trade and transport gateway between southern and western parts of China and neighboring Southeast Asia," Ishii said.

The ADB Board of Directors approved the loan for the Guangxi Beibu Gulf Cities Development Project which will construct and upgrade roads, as well as waste water, storm water and sewerage treatment facilities in the cities of Beihai, Qinzhou and Fangchenggang.

The cities are situated along the Beibu Gulf in the south of Guangxi, which borders Vietnam and has a coastline of over 1,500 kilometers. They form part of the Beibu Gulf Economic Zone which was approved in 2008 to promote domestic and regional economic cooperation and integration.

Over 651,000 people are expected to directly benefit from the project, including some 1,200 people who will be employed during the operational phase, as well as around 2,000 during the construction phase, the ADB said in a press release.