China steps up financial support to rural revitalization

BEIJING -- China will rev up financial support to advancing rural revitalization to help bolster macroeconomic stability, said a central bank guideline Wednesday.

The People's Bank of China urged banks and other financial institutions to ensure reliable financial services for grain production, with focus on nurturing industry chain firms specializing in cultivating high-standard farmland, spring farming, or warehousing and processing, among others.

The guideline said more credit support should also help secure the supply of key agriculture products like soybean, oil crops, and non-staple foods.

Cross-border trade of agricultural products and the development of core technologies like germplasm need stronger financial support, it said.

The guideline called for better financial services in China's rural areas to underpin sustainable industrial development and improve infrastructure and the living environment.

The document also demanded efforts to consolidate poverty-relief achievements and make financial services more accessible to the rural population.

China has vowed to optimize financial services to advance rural revitalization and provide more support for qualified local financial institutions regarding relending, rediscounts, and required reserves in 2022, according to a document released by central authorities in late February.