China to strengthen inclusive finance in rural areas

BEIJING - China will make rural area the key focus in developing inclusive finance to improve financial institutions' rural vitalization strategies.

The growth of inclusive loans to farmers and small and micro agricultural businesses should be no slower than the average lending growth, while credit for targeted poverty alleviation should grow at a higher speed, according to a document on promoting rural financing issued by Chinese banking authorities.

By the end of the year, townships without banking institutions and villages without basic financial services should be cut by over one-third, the document said.

Such financial services covered 96.44 percent of villages in China at the end of 2017, while 95.99 percent of townships had financial institutions.

The innovation of financial products and services as well as strengthening oversight on risks were also highlighted in the document.

At the end of last year, China's outstanding loans to farmers, agriculture and rural areas totaled 30.95 trillion yuan ($4.89 trillion), up 9.64 percent year-on-year.