China unveils financial measures to bolster forestry development

BEIJING -- China's central bank said on Monday it has issued a notice jointly with two other government departments, outlining 15 targeted measures to leverage financial strength to drive high-quality forestry development.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) said that the measures, raised jointly with the National Financial Regulatory Administration and the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, involve five aspects. These aspects include enhancing financial services for collective forest tenure reform, strengthening financial safeguards for critical forestry strategies, and increasing financial investment for the forestry industry's high-quality development.

The notice placed a strong emphasis on innovation in forest rights mortgage lending, advocating for an expanded scope of mortgageable forest rights, legally compliant loan term extensions, and overall improvements in loan quality, quantity, and accessibility.

It further specifies that the three departments will enhance financing coordination for national reserve forest projects, streamline loan approval processes, and facilitate the transformation of ecological resources into ecological capital.

Going forward, efforts will focus on improving the quality and efficiency of financial services for collective forest tenure reform in order to support the high-quality development of the forestry sector, according to the PBOC.