(Yicai) Feb. 5 -- Country Garden Holdings, once China’s biggest property developer, is one of nine private builders that have said their construction projects were included in whitelists drawn up by local governments in the country to enable them to tap bank funding.

Seven recent defaulters, including Country Garden, Jinke Property Group, Shimao Group Holdings, China Aoyuan Group, Agile Group Holding, and two other builders in good financial standing recently said more than 100 of their projects had made the whitelists, Yicai calculated.

Country Garden announced on Feb. 3 that more than 30 of its projects in the city of Chongqing as well as the provinces of Henan, Hubei, Shandong, and Sichuan were included in local whitelists.

These projects are expected to receive funding, easing the financial pressure on the company, helping ensure the completion of properties, and revitalizing its assets, Country Garden noted, adding that more projects in other provincial-level regions are expected to be added to whitelists.

Instigated last month, the whitelist program recommends real estate projects already underway for financing by banks. Inclusion means they can get support, which will help steady investor confidence and resolve debt risks, Yan Yuejin, research director of the E-House Research Institute, told Yicai.

Making the lists is a positive step, but whether projects can actually secure funds depends on the risk assessments done by the banks, so more time is needed to evaluate the policy’s impact, a market insider told Yicai. And a source at one developer told Yicai that even though some of his firm’s projects have been included, no progress has yet been made in terms of financing.

The first whitelist was sent to around 50 lenders by local governments at the end of last month and included 107 projects in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and 314 in Chongqing. Since then, more have been announced by other local authorities.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione