Environmental protection projects carried out in China's inland regions, especially in the central and western regions, will become a preferential area for Japanese government loans, said a Japanese environmental expert here Friday.

Tadashi Yasuhara, former Japanese vice-minister of environment, is leading a study group from the Japanese Environment Information Center to look for investment projects in Guizhou and Gansu provinces.

Yasuhara said in an interview here that the delegation will provide policy advice to the Japanese government on the issue of interest-free loans to aid the development of China's western region.

The Japanese delegation arrived here Thursday on a three-day visit to the city, investigating pollution treatment methods in a number of industrial plants.