A KEY national university in northeastern China's Jilin Province is having difficulty paying back the huge interest on loans it borrowed from banks, Saturday's Beijing Youth Daily reported.

Jilin University, located in Changchun, the capital city of Jilin, is under the direct jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education. The university announced last week that since 2005 interest on its loans has ranged from 150 million yuan (US$19 million) to 170 million yuan yearly, and now the institution is facing serious financial problems.

The university's accounting department went so far as to invite teachers and students Wednesday to propose financial solutions.

Jilin University had a loose financial plan aimed at funding construction and research between 2000 to 2004, and the subsequent expansion resulted in huge bank loans. The accounting department was aware of the university's predicament as early as 2005 and tried to curtail expenses, but it was too late.

An employee of the accounting department said Jilin University currently owes 3 billion yuan and currently relies heavily on funds from the Ministry of Education.

Another university staff member explained that the loans were mainly used for increasing teachers' salaries and improving the university's infrastructure.

Many Chinese universities are encountering similar monetary difficulties. Loans by Chinese universities amounted to 150 to 200 billion yuan in 2005, according to a blue book titled "Analysis and Forecast on China's Social Development 2006."

The former president of Tianjin University, Shan Ping, even lost his seat in China's top legislature after the university incurred huge losses on the stock market last November.

(SD-Agencies)