On March 30, 2022, the people's Bank of China issued the opinions on doing a good job in the key work of financial support to comprehensively promote rural revitalization in 2022 (hereinafter referred to as the opinions), from grain production and Shenzhen Agricultural Products Group Co.Ltd(000061) supply, basic support of modern agriculture, rural industry, rural construction, consolidating the achievements of poverty alleviation, serving rural revitalization capacity, rural basic financial services The assessment and evaluation made clear the specific path of financial support to comprehensively promote rural revitalization in 2022. The opinions guide financial institutions to accurately and continuously strengthen financial support for "agriculture, rural areas and farmers". The following points deserve attention:
First, the opinions implement the spirit of No. 1 central document, and raise the importance of financial services to Rural Revitalization to a new height. In 2022, No. 1 central document will focus on Promoting Rural Revitalization in an all-round way. Under the two major objectives of steady economic growth and promoting common prosperity, the strategic significance of Rural Revitalization is upgrading again. With the continuous improvement of the mechanism and policy system, the Rural Revitalization will be promoted in a new stage. The in-depth promotion of Rural Revitalization is inseparable from financial support. All parties of rural development, such as agricultural modernization, increasing farmers' income and getting rich, improving rural infrastructure and living environment, face increasing demand for funds, and the demand for multi-level and diversified financial services is gradually increasing. The No. 1 central document listed the "Strengthening Rural Revitalization financial services" for the first time, which fully reflects the central government's higher expectation and higher requirements for financial institutions to increase support for Rural Revitalization. It is noteworthy that there are still many shortcomings in the current financial support for rural revitalization, such as few business outlets and poor coverage, availability and convenience of financial services; The rural credit system and infrastructure are not perfect, the efficiency of information collection is low, the sharing is insufficient, the credit evaluation standards are difficult to unify, and the valuation of mortgage collateral is difficult; The lack of online financial services and the slow development of rural digital inclusive finance are important factors restricting the enthusiasm and effectiveness of Rural Revitalization of financial services. The opinions implement the spirit of No. 1 central document, and provide targeted financial services measures to focus areas such as "two bottom lines and three key points". We should directly attack the pain and difficulties of financial services in rural areas, refine the financial services path of rural areas, and raise the importance of financial services to Rural Revitalization to a new height.
Second, identify the starting point for financial support for Rural Revitalization and guide it to continue to increase its support for Rural Revitalization. Six guiding opinions on optimizing the allocation of rural financial resources. First, serve grain production and important Shenzhen Agricultural Products Group Co.Ltd(000061) supply. Provide differentiated credit support around the whole grain industry chain, such as high-standard farmland construction, spring ploughing preparation, circulation, collection, storage and processing, increase credit investment in important Shenzhen Agricultural Products Group Co.Ltd(000061) supply and develop supply chain finance. Second, serve the basic support of modern agriculture. Increase medium and long-term credit support for key core technologies such as seed sources, and actively carry out businesses such as intellectual property pledge, inventory and order pledge; Support facility agriculture and agricultural machinery and equipment with financial instruments such as financial leasing and credit bonds. Third, serve rural industries. Support the integrated development of Shenzhen Agricultural Products Group Co.Ltd(000061) processing and leisure tourism, and increase the medium and long-term credit for new agricultural business entities; Provide fund settlement, financial management and other services for County commerce, supply and marketing enterprises; Provide farmers with flexible entrepreneurship guarantee loans, and support the green development of agriculture and rural areas with diversified products such as green credit, bonds and carbon sink pledge. Fourth, serve rural construction. Develop adaptive and targeted products and financing models for rural infrastructure construction and improvement of living environment, accelerate the construction of agriculture related scenes, and promote the facilitation of county financial services. Fifth, consolidate the achievements of poverty alleviation. In terms of credit access, authorization and approval, we will increase the preference for financial resources in key assistance counties, and do a good job in credit support, consumer services, investment attraction and so on. Sixth, improve rural basic financial services. Promote the construction of rural credit evaluation system, build a credit investigation platform and share agriculture related information; Improve the payment service level and improve the convenience of farmers' debt purchase; We will strengthen the protection of the rights and interests of rural financial consumers. With the continuous promotion of rural financial reform, the financing enthusiasm of financial institutions for rural areas has increased significantly. At the end of 2021, the balance of agriculture related loans of financial institutions was 43.2 trillion yuan, an increase of 10.9% year-on-year. The growth rates of agriculture related loans in rural areas and farmers were 12.1% and 14.0% respectively. It is expected that the balance of agriculture related loans will further increase in 2022, and the adaptability, competitiveness and inclusiveness of rural financial services will be significantly strengthened.
Third, the regulatory authorities and financial institutions should make two-way efforts to continuously improve the ability and level of financial services for Rural Revitalization. Under the guidance of the opinions, financial institutions will actively layout the field of rural finance and accelerate the expansion of rural financial market. Improve the internal institutions or business lines serving rural revitalization, establish rural revitalization sub branches, Rural Revitalization financial demonstration sites, Rural Revitalization characteristic outlets, etc., sink the service focus, extend the service tentacles and improve the service convenience; Optimize and adjust credit resources, increase credit support for key areas such as food security, modern agricultural technology, rural industrial integration projects and rural infrastructure, and provide preferential pricing schemes for key assistance counties; Innovate products and services, actively carry out new financing modes such as future usufruct pledge and accounts receivable pledge according to the financing characteristics of rural revitalization, and issue Rural Revitalization bonds and "three rural" special financial bonds to broaden the source of funds; Strengthen the empowerment of financial technology, make full use of new technologies such as blockchain, cloud computing and 5g, develop rural digital Inclusive Finance and supply chain finance, improve the intelligent risk control platform, and promote the construction of rural credit investigation system. We should take into account the "discount policy" of rural financial institutions, make full use of the "discount policy" to support the revitalization of rural financial institutions, and make full use of the difference in the rate of deposit and reserve, so as to reduce the support of rural financial institutions; Encourage small and medium-sized banks to replenish capital through multiple channels, improve corporate governance, and guide them to take root at the grass-roots level and serve the local community; Conduct assessment and evaluation on financial institutions serving rural revitalization, strengthen the application of evaluation results, and further improve the enthusiasm and initiative of financial institutions serving rural areas.
(commented by: Bank Of China Limited(601988) Research Institute Zheng Chenyang)
