Two Departments: Increase Financial Resource Investment in Key Areas of Rural Revitalization and Improve the Institutional Mechanism for Financial Services and Rural Reform

Zhitongcaijing · 07/24 08:57

The Zhitong Finance App learned that on July 24, the People's Bank of China and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs issued “Opinions on Strengthening Financial Services and Rural Reform and Promoting Comprehensive Rural Revitalization”. The “Opinion” suggests that investment in financial resources in key areas of rural revitalization should be increased. Among them, raise the level of financial services for rural construction, provide diversified financing solutions through investment and loan linkages, the formation of syndicates, and project bundling, etc., to support the extension of coverage of infrastructure and public services to the countryside. It provides comprehensive financing services such as bond financing, equity investment, fund trusts, and financial leasing according to local conditions to support the integrated development of urban and rural areas and the construction of new urbanization in the county area.

The “Opinion” emphasizes the need to improve the institutional mechanism for financial service reform in rural areas, encourage all regions to explore the establishment of management systems such as certification and mortgage registration for agricultural facilities and live livestock and poultry, expand the coverage of mortgage financing, and promote the revitalization of rural resources and assets. Strengthen the management of credit granted by financial institutions, and optimize and improve financial supply mechanisms. Strengthen policy guarantees and organizational promotion, comprehensively apply monetary, credit and other policies, encourage financial institutions to issue “three rural”, small micro, and green special financial bonds, support eligible enterprises to issue rural revitalization bonds, and increase capital investment in rural revitalization. Strengthen the application of methods such as risk compensation, loan interest rates, and incentive rewards, etc., promote government financing guarantee agencies to perform credit enhancement functions, and support financing for various agricultural operators.

The opinion mentioned promoting the revitalization of rural resources and assets. Further promote pilot projects to standardize rural property rights transfer transactions, and promote the construction and application of rural property rights transfer transactions and financial service platforms. Encourage all regions to explore the establishment of management systems such as certification, value evaluation, mortgage registration, and asset disposal for agricultural facilities and live livestock and poultry, give full play to the role of a unified registration and publicity system for movable property financing, and promote the expansion of mortgage financing coverage. Deepen the reform of the collective forest rights system and financial services, and increase investment in forest rights mortgages and medium- to long-term loans from forestry operators. Explore mortgage financing models for rural contracted land management rights, and support rural collective economic organizations to carry out equity pledge loans for collective management property.

The original text is as follows:

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People's Bank of China issued “Opinions on Strengthening Financial Services and Rural Reform and Promoting Comprehensive Rural Revitalization”

In order to thoroughly implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress and the Second and Third Plenums of the 20th CPC Central Committee, implement the deployment requirements of the CPC Central Committee Document No. 1, learn and apply the “10 Million Project” experience, promote the financial system to enhance reform thinking, improve the efficiency of financial resource allocation, and promote comprehensive rural revitalization, the People's Bank of China and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs recently issued “Opinions on Strengthening Financial Services and Promoting Comprehensive Rural Revitalization” (hereinafter referred to as “Opinions”).

The “Opinion” suggests that investment in financial resources in key areas of rural revitalization should be increased. The first is to strengthen financial security for food security, increase credit resource preferences for major grain-producing regions and major grain-producing counties, deepen financial services for high-standard farmland and farmland water conservancy construction, and strengthen financial supply for the development of new agricultural productivity.

Second, continue to consolidate and expand the results of financial support, continue to implement differentiated financial support policies, and maintain unabated credit investment in poverty-stricken regions. Continue to improve the quality and efficiency of targeted support, optimize the financial support model of the Union Agriculture Belt and Agriculture, and actively plan financial support mechanisms after the transition period.

The third is to deepen financial services for rural welfare industries, broaden mortgage guarantee methods, innovate rural “souvenir” financing models and exclusive financial products, promote the “one chain, one policy” financial service model, enrich the supply of financial products such as bonds and financial management, and support the broadening of channels for farmers to increase their income.

Fourth, raise the level of financial services for rural construction, provide diversified financing solutions through investment and loan linkages, the formation of syndicates, and project bundling, etc., to support the extension of coverage of infrastructure and public services to the countryside. It provides comprehensive financing services such as bond financing, equity investment, fund trusts, financial leasing, etc. according to local conditions to support the integrated development of urban and rural areas in the county area and the construction of new urbanization.

Fifth, strengthen finance to empower the quality and efficiency of rural governance, enhance the deep integration of “agriculture, cultural tourism” into the supply of financial services, make good use of credit market service platforms, and enable digital rural development. Further promote the construction of rural credit systems and raise the level of basic financial services in rural areas.

In the next step, the People's Bank of China will strengthen coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and other departments, focus on serving rural reforms, use reform methods to improve the effectiveness of financial support for agriculture, promptly summarize typical experiences and innovative practices in financial services for rural revitalization, strengthen statistical monitoring and assessment, innovate investment and financing mechanisms for rural revitalization, and promote agricultural efficiency, rural vitality, and farmers' income.

Opinions of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People's Bank of China on strengthening financial services and rural reform to promote comprehensive rural revitalization

In order to thoroughly implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress and the Second and Third Plenums of the 20th CPC Central Committee, fully implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important remarks and instructions on the work of the “Three Rural Areas”, earnestly implement the decisions and arrangements of the Central Economic Work Conference and the Central Rural Work Conference, promote the detailed implementation of the “Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Further Deepening Rural Reform and Firmly Promoting Comprehensive Rural Revitalization” in the financial system, and continue to learn and apply the “10 Million Project” experience to enhance reform thinking, make good use of reform methods, thoroughly implement special actions to support comprehensive rural revitalization, and improve the rural financial service system. The following opinions are put forward to improve the efficiency of financial resource allocation and exert greater strength in advancing the modernization of agriculture and rural areas and achieving the goal of building a strong agricultural nation.

I. Strengthening financial security for food security

(1) Increase financial investment in stabilizing production and supply of grain and important agricultural products. Connect with actions to increase large-scale yield of grain and oil crops, and increase credit resource preferences for major grain-producing regions and major grain-producing counties. Expand credit investment in soybean and oil cultivation, purchase and sale, processing, etc. Encourage local authorities to launch pilot interest rate discounts on special loans for grain and oil cultivation, strengthen credit support for emergency insurance and supply production bases for “vegetable basket” products, and increase the organic link between credit and policies such as prices, subsidies, and insurance. Reasonably extend loan terms and support the steady development of industries such as pigs, beef cattle, dairy, sheep, and aquatic products through methods such as revolving credit loans and no-principal loan renewals.

(2) Deepen financial services for high-standard farmland and farmland water conservancy construction. Actively connect with farmland construction, water conservancy projects, and field supporting construction projects, encourage financial institutions to develop a financing model using market-based operating income as the source of repayment according to the project repayment source, set flexible repayment methods according to the high-standard farmland construction and operation cycle, extend the loan period, and increase the proportion of medium- to long-term loans. Promote investment and financing innovations such as investment and loan linkages for high-standard farmland construction. Do a good job of credit evaluation for projects such as comprehensive utilization of saline-alkali land, protection of black land, and treatment of degraded arable land to reasonably meet financing needs.

(3) Strengthen the financial supply for the development of new agricultural productivity. Strengthen financial services to revitalize the seed industry, focus on major scientific research platforms such as “Nanfan Silicon Valley” and projects such as core seed source technology research, and increase investment in long-term and low-cost R&D loans. Actively promote collateral financing for scientific research and breeding materials, new plant variety rights, breeding facilities and equipment, and enhance the convenience of financing for seed industry enterprises. Establish a differentiated credit evaluation system for scientific and technological innovation enterprises in the fields of agricultural machinery and equipment, smart agriculture, pelagic fishery, etc., and appropriately increase credit loan amounts. Make good use of policies such as scientific and technological innovation and technological transformation and refinancing, and increase investment in credit for the scrapping and renewal of old agricultural machinery and equipment. Expand the scale of mergers and acquisitions loans to support market-based mergers and restructuring of leading agricultural science and technology enterprises.

(4) Optimizing financial services for diversified food supply systems. Support regions that are in a position to do so to draw up collateral lists in the food supply sector, encourage financial institutions to include agricultural facilities, agricultural product stocks, live livestock, poultry, and fishery products in the scope of collateral, rationally evaluate asset values, determine collateral rates, and explore effective ways of pledge supervision by relying on standardized storage and intelligent supervision methods. Establish a financial service system to support diversified food development, encourage financial institutions to integrate into the comprehensive development and construction of mountain, sea and forest field resources, and actively meet financing needs in fields such as forest food, deep-sea aquaculture, algae farming, food development, and biological agriculture. Strengthen support for agriculture going global, and encourage financial institutions to provide personalized financial services to multinational agricultural enterprises.

II. Continue to consolidate and expand the achievements of financial support

(5) Increase financial support for poverty-stricken regions and key population groups. Continue to increase financial support for underdeveloped regions such as the country's key rural revitalization support counties and enterprises in the “Ten Thousand Enterprises Grow Ten Thousand Villages” initiative, continue to implement differentiated financial support policies, and maintain unabated credit investment in poverty-alleviation regions. Continue to increase financial support to help the development of the industry, and strengthen accurate financial services throughout the entire industrial chain. Do a solid job in financial services for the subsequent development of centralized resettlement areas for poverty alleviation and relocation. Optimize the Lianong agricultural financial support model and enhance the employment-driving ability of support workshops. Do a good job of monitoring the quality of microfinance for people out of poverty and managing loan renewals, and actively plan financial support mechanisms after the transition period.

(6) Continuously improve the quality and efficiency of targeted support. Firmly shoulder the political responsibility of targeted support, strengthen the construction of targeted support teams and institutional guarantees, and scientifically plan support measures and support projects. Maintain an overall stable level of support, and solidly promote rural industrial revitalization, talent revitalization, cultural revitalization, ecological revitalization, and organizational revitalization. Further develop financial advantages, strengthen the coordination of support funds, social forces and financial resources, and promote helping regional agriculture increase efficiency, rural vitality, and farmers' income.

III. Deepening financial services for rural affluent industries

(7) Do a good job in rural “souvenir” financial services. Keep abreast of the financing needs of specialty agricultural products, formulate differentiated credit policies according to local conditions, broaden mortgage guarantee methods, and innovate rural “souvenir” financing models and exclusive financial products. Support agricultural variety cultivation, quality improvement, brand building and standardized production, actively meet the financing needs of agricultural product processing industrial parks, rural craftsman gathering areas, and key agricultural products and agricultural distribution networks, improve financial services in all aspects of agricultural product production, processing and brand sales, and continuously improve the comprehensive benefits of agriculture. Optimize comprehensive financial services such as cross-border trade, investment and financing, and settlement in agricultural international trade, agricultural product cross-border e-commerce, etc.

(8) Promote high-quality industrial development in the county area. Explore and implement a “long financial chain system” for key industrial chains in counties, promote the “one chain, one policy” financial service model, and provide targeted financing services according to the characteristics of the industrial chain. Focus on the financing needs of industrial clusters with advantages and characteristics, strong industrial towns, production markets, etc., and explore batch credit loans and improve service efficiency. Broaden financial service scenarios and support the development of new rural industries and formats such as leisure agriculture, garden economy, rural tourism, and homestay economy. Increase investment in green credit and transformation credit, and accelerate the overall green transformation of agricultural development.

(9) Support the broadening of channels for farmers to increase their income. Expand investment in initial loans and credit loans to support small-scale farmers to enhance their ability to develop themselves. Strengthen financing and cultivation efforts for family farms and farmers' cooperatives, and support the development of new types of agricultural operators and agricultural social service providers. Strengthen the implementation of policies such as guaranteed loans to start a business, and increase financial support for entrepreneurs returning to their hometowns. Innovate the agricultural supply chain finance business model, and support leading agricultural enterprises and “chain owner” enterprises to lead and drive various agricultural operators in the industrial chain to increase financing credit and operating income. Enrich the supply of financial products such as bonds and financial management, and raise the property income of rural residents and new citizens.

IV. Raising the level of financial services for rural construction

(10) Support infrastructure and public services to extend coverage to rural areas. Precisely connect with agricultural and rural infrastructure financing project banks, and increase financial support for a new round of rural highway upgrading, warehousing and preservation of production areas, cold chain logistics, rural water supply guarantee, county commercial system construction, and distributed renewable energy development and utilization. Encourage financial institutions to coordinate operational projects and public welfare projects, and provide diversified financing solutions through investment and loan linkages, the formation of syndicates, and project bundling. Increase financial supply to support the construction of three-level old-age service networks in counties and villages and the development of rural childcare.

(11) Strengthen financial guarantees for livability and workability and rural construction in the US. Actively connect with actions to rectify and upgrade the rural habitat environment, innovate and develop special credit products and service models around key areas such as the rural toilet revolution, treatment of domestic sewage and black and smelly water bodies, and comprehensive disposal and utilization of domestic organic waste, and encourage the adoption of “treatment+industrial introduction” project bundling methods to grant overall credit to eligible projects and broaden project financing channels. Explore ways for financial support to realize the value of ecological products, and increase financial support for the construction of key ecological projects such as the “Three North”. Promote forecasted income rights, energy use rights, water rights, and sewage rights collateral financing, support the protection and restoration of important ecosystems, and help improve the rural ecological environment.

(12) Expand financial services for integrated urban-rural development and new urbanization construction in counties. Encourage financial institutions to take advantage of financing intelligence, intervene in advance during the village planning period, and provide specialized advice and financing solutions. Encourage the provision of comprehensive financing services such as bond financing, equity investment, fund trusts, and financial leasing according to local conditions according to the characteristics of new urbanization construction investors and projects. Actively meet the financial needs of new groups of citizens, such as rural population transfers, in terms of housing, education, medical care, and old-age care.

5. Strengthen finance to empower the quality and efficiency of rural governance

(13) Promote the cultivation of civilized rural style in the new era. Strengthen the deep integration of “agriculture, cultural tourism” into the supply of financial services, and explore the inclusion of scenic spot management rights, ticket revenue rights, etc. in the scope of collateral lists. Explore and revitalize historical and cultural resources in rural areas, increase financial support for public cultural facilities such as rural theaters, folk experience centers, non-genetic learning places, village art workshops, etc., and promote the construction of protected areas with traditional village characteristics. Promote the organic combination of “whole village credit granting”, “senseless credit” and “points system” governance models, expand the application of rural virtue credit points in the financial field, and revitalize villagers' credit assets.

(14) Empower the development of digital villages. Focus on digital rural projects to strengthen agriculture and benefit farmers and smart agriculture actions, deepen the implementation of fintech demonstration projects to empower rural revitalization, promote the integration and sharing of agricultural data resources, make good use of platforms such as credit market service platforms and direct credit vehicles for agricultural operators, accelerate the intelligent transformation of agricultural financial products, service channels, and business processes, and raise the level of digital inclusive finance in rural areas. Deepen cooperation with county and township (town) governments, village committees and various agricultural actors to create a comprehensive rural service platform integrating smart government, convenient living services, and financial services to help farmers to empower rural governance.

(15) Raise the level of basic financial services in rural areas. Further optimize the layout of rural financial outlets, normalize financial knowledge dissemination activities, and promote the improvement of the financial literacy of rural residents. Strengthen the prevention of telecommunication network fraud, crack down on illegal fund-raising and anti-counterfeit currency propaganda, and protect the rights and interests of financial consumers in rural areas. Further promote the construction of rural credit systems, strengthen the collection and sharing of agricultural credit information, and broaden the application scenarios of credit information sharing platforms for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises across the country. Optimize withdrawal services to help farmers, strengthen the popularization and application of emerging payment methods such as mobile payments, and guide mobile payments to sink into rural areas. Actively promote the transfer of treasury bonds to the countryside, and continue to improve the convenience of purchasing savings treasury bonds in rural areas.

6. Improving the institutional mechanism for financial service reform in rural areas

(16) Promote the revitalization of rural resources and assets. Further promote pilot projects to standardize rural property rights transfer transactions, and promote the construction and application of rural property rights transfer transactions and financial service platforms. Encourage all regions to explore the establishment of management systems such as certification, value evaluation, mortgage registration, and asset disposal for agricultural facilities and live livestock and poultry, give full play to the role of a unified registration and publicity system for movable property financing, and promote the expansion of mortgage financing coverage. Deepen the reform of the collective forest rights system and financial services, and increase investment in forest rights mortgages and medium- to long-term loans from forestry operators. Explore mortgage financing models for rural contracted land management rights, and support rural collective economic organizations to carry out equity pledge loans for collective management property.

(17) Optimize and improve financial supply mechanisms. Developmental policy banks should build on their functional positioning and increase medium- to long-term credit support for key areas of comprehensive rural revitalization within the scope of their business. State-owned commercial banks and joint-stock commercial banks should give full play to their advantages in capital, technology, etc., to strengthen the credit resources of county branches. Adhere to the position of rural small and medium-sized banks supporting agriculture, speed up the reform and insurance of rural credit cooperatives, and push forward the reform and restructuring of rural banks in a steady and orderly manner. All banking financial institutions should strengthen credit management, and scientifically and reasonably determine credit lines based on factors such as borrowers' financial status, risk tolerance, and actual financing needs, so as to avoid multiple credit grants or excessive credit grants. Clarify credit standards, optimize credit processes, and improve credit efficiency.

7. Strengthen policy guarantees and organizational promotion

(18) Strengthen policy coordination. Make comprehensive use of monetary, credit and other policies to push financial institutions to increase capital investment in rural revitalization. Encourage financial institutions to issue “three rural”, small micro, and green special financial bonds, support eligible enterprises to issue rural revitalization bonds for the integrated development of modern rural industries and rural industries, and standardize and optimize the capital investment and policy support of bonds. Comprehensive use of methods such as risk compensation, loan interest rates, and incentive rewards to leverage financial resources to invest in rural revitalization. Promote government financing guarantee agencies to perform credit enhancement functions and support the financing of business entities such as the “Three Farmers”.

(19) Do a good job in publicity, promotion, monitoring and evaluation. Establish and improve a comprehensive rural revitalization loan monitoring system, carry out statistics on key areas such as grain production loans, seed industry revitalization loans, livestock and poultry breeding loans, agricultural product processing loans, new agricultural operators, and agricultural social service providers, and strengthen analysis and situation reporting. Optimize the assessment and evaluation of financial institutions serving rural revitalization, and strengthen the sharing and application of evaluation results. Summarize innovative practices for financial service and comprehensive rural revitalization in a timely manner, make full use of various media to strengthen publicity and interpretation of policies and products, and comprehensively reflect the effectiveness of financial support. Further promote the construction of existing pilot zones for inclusive finance reform and support the replication and promotion of typical experiences on a wider scale.

This article was selected from the official website of the “People's Bank of China”, Zhitong Finance Editor: Liu Jiayin.