Poverty Alleviation of Agricultural Bank of China

　　【Overview】  In 2007, after the central party committee and the State Council confirmed the reform guidelines of Agricultural Bank of China (serve issues concerning agriculture, the countryside and farmers, overall reform, commercial operation, get listed when proper), Agricultural Bank of China insisted on the combination of social responsibilities with its own reform and development, provided fund support and financial services for impoverished areas, and continuously provided new energy for poverty alleviation and development.

　　Agricultural Bank of China adapted to the new situation, new changes and new requirements brought by the reform, went on with the credit for impoverished areas, and probed the new poverty alleviation mode through credit gradually. According to statistics, in 2009, Agricultural Bank of China issued loans of 242.505 billion Yuan to key counties for provincial and national poverty alleviation and development, up 38.11% (66.912 billion Yuan) over 2008; and issued soft loans of 1.815 billion Yuan for poverty alleviation impoverished areas, up 35.96% (480 million Yuan) over 2008. By the end of 2009, the balance of loans to 2 types of poor counties from Agricultural Bank of China reached 297.333 billion Yuan, increased by 117.562 billion Yuan (65.4%) over the beginning of 2009, 13.537 million rural families were aided and the families’ average income was increased by 3964 Yuan.

　　【Financial service plan for issues concerning agriculture, the countryside and farmers】In 2008, LGOP, Ministry of Finance, People’s Bank of China and China Banking Regulatory Commission jointly issued “Circular Concerning Overall Reform to the Poverty Alleviation Soft Loan Management System”. To match the change, Agricultural Bank of China issued “Financial Service Plan for Issues Concerning Agriculture, the Countryside and Farmers in Impoverished Counties of Agricultural Bank of China”. The plan clarified the stressed service fields, including support to planting and cultivation in impoverished areas, agriculture industrialization, development of featured and advantageous industries, support to the improvement of basic living and production conditions in impoverished areas, support to impoverished areas’ labor export, finance service support for impoverished areas’ business and investment invitation, to feed different individual clients’ financial needs in impoverished areas. The issuance of the plan confirmed the poverty alleviation direction of Agricultural Bank of China in a period in future, and boosted the development of poverty alleviation in credit of branches in impoverished counties.

　　【Support to leading enterprises】  Industrialized poverty alleviation is the key part of China’s poverty alleviation in the new era, and Agricultural Bank of China increases farmers’ income by supporting leading poverty alleviation enterprises in the mode of “company + farmer”. In 2009, to grasp the situation of national leading poverty alleviation enterprises, Agricultural Bank of China had an investigation on national leading poverty alleviation enterprises. According to statistics, among 625 national leading poverty alleviation enterprises, about 205 had credit relationships with Agricultural Bank of China, and the credit coverage rate was 35%. By the end of 2009, Agricultural Bank of China granted credit of over 15 billion Yuan to national leading poverty alleviation enterprises, 60 million Yuan per enterprise, and the balance of loans was 12 billion Yuan. The national leading poverty alleviation enterprises played an obvious role in boosting the economic development and labor employment of impoverished areas, and the support to leading poverty alleviation enterprises is the stress in the poverty alleviation in credit of Agricultural Bank of China in the new era.

　　In 2009, LGOP and Agricultural Bank of China jointly issued “Advice on Greater Support to Leading Poverty Alleviation Enterprises under the Financial Crisis” (Guo Kai Ban Fa No. [2009] 77). “Advice” required poverty alleviation offices at all levels and Agricultural Bank of China to understand of the significance of greater support to leading poverty alleviation enterprises, to probe new mode of support to leading poverty alleviation enterprises, to reinforce coordination, to reinforce the support to leading poverty alleviation enterprises, to boost their healthy development, to boost the development of dominant industries in impoverished areas and to increase farmers’ income steadily.

　　【Micro Credit】  In 2009, Agricultural Bank of China granted credit of 200 million Yuan to China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation, entrusted the professional micro credit organization affiliated to China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation to provide micro credit for impoverished farmers in impoverished areas. China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation, as the unified borrowing & repaying platform, was responsible for the borrowing, usage, management and repaying of loans, and issued loans to impoverished farmers through branches for production. In this mode, Agricultural Bank of China cooperated with Rural Development Institute of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and International Economic Exchange Center of Ministry of Commerce to directly support 4 micro credit organizations for poverty alleviation in Tongren County of Qinghai, Xingren County of Guizhou, Yi County of Hebei and Nanzhao County of Henan. Agricultural Bank of China probed credit union and other rural economic cooperation organizations to reinforce the poverty alleviation in credit.

　　In the probing practice, Sichuan Branch of Agricultural Bank of China enlarged the financing scale of micro credit organizations by issuing loans to them, and improved the coverage of financial services for issues concerning agriculture, the countryside and farmers. In 2009, under the instruction of the head office, Sichuan Branch developed pilot financing points for micro credit organizations actively and orderly. Sichuan Branch already granted credit of 20 million Yuan and issued loans of 10.5 million Yuan to the first wholly foreign-invested micro loan company in China, MicroCred Nanchong. At the same time, Sichuan Branch, through the expansion of mutual fund pilot points of impoverished villages in Sichuan, finished the preliminary investigation on Rural Development Association in Yilong County and the mutual poverty alleviation fund union in Zhangyemiao Village, primarily confirmed the pilot sum of 3.2 million Yuan, designed the pilot plan and planned to start the financing service when proper.

　　【Credit products for poverty alleviation and innovation of channels】 Agricultural Bank of China, with innovative products, provides quality financial services for the most clients, especially clients in impoverished counties. To solve the fund bottleneck in the infrastructure construction in rural areas, especially in impoverished areas, Agricultural Bank of China developed “Rural Infrastructure Construction Loan” and “Green Home Loan”, and the 2 innovative products would improve the infrastructure and hardware environment of impoverished areas. The release of “Movable Property Pledge Financing Loan for County-Level Medium and Small Enterprises” and “Receivable Pledge Loan for Medium and Small Enterprises” relieved leading poverty alleviation enterprises’ mortgage, pledge and insufficient guarantee sources. To support remote minority areas to develop featured economy, Agricultural Bank of China designed “Xinjiang Forestry & Fruit Industry Support Service Plan”, which would boost the upgrading of featured industries in Xinjiang and boost the harmonious development of the economy and society in minority areas.

　　While accelerating the innovation of corporate business products, Agricultural Bank of China, with Golden Spike Farmer Benefiting Card as the carrier and with stress on micro loans, directly helps impoverished farmers to shake off poverty and get rich. By the end of November of 2009, Agricultural Bank of China issued 31.76 million farmer benefiting cards and 2.46 million loan clients, and the balance of loans to farmers was 63.5 billion Yuan. On this basis, Agricultural Bank of China will try to issue 100 million cards in the next 3 years, cover 50% of the 220 million farmers across China, and reach the requirements of the central party committee and the State Council.

　　Through channel innovation, based on farmer benefiting cards, Agricultural Bank of China gradually filled the blanks in the financial services in impoverished areas. Zunyi of Guizhou has 5 national impoverished counties, including Fenggang, Daozhen, Wuchuan, Xishui and Zheng’an, and 86 towns, while there are only 2 township points of Agricultural Bank of China in this area. To satisfy farmers’ financial needs in impoverished areas, and to terminate the blanks in financial services in Zunyi, Zunyi Branch of Agricultural Bank of China built a circulating convenient service team to provide circulating services, and provided other financial services to match the rural situation, including farmer benefiting cards’ interface to new-type rural cooperative medical service, water, electricity and CATV fee charging on commission, etc. By the end of 2009, Zunyi Branch set up 29 convenient service points in towns where there was no financial organization to cover over 30 villages and towns; provided access to telephone banking, mobile phone banking and other services for nearly 30,000 farmers, so that over 4,000 farmers in towns where there was no financial organization got access to convenient, fast and flexible modern financial services.

　　【Poverty alleviation in social credit】  As a member of LGOP, Agricultural Bank of China, with China Disabled Persons’ Federation, All China Women’s Federation and other related departments, participates in poverty alleviation and development in all fields. In 2007, Agricultural Bank of China and China Disabled Persons’ Federation jointly issued “Advice on Further Poverty Alleviation in Recovery Loans” (No. Nong Yin Fa [2007] 24), required branches of Agricultural Bank of China and China Disabled Persons’ Federation at all levels to improve their awareness and responsibility sense, cooperate sincerely on further poverty alleviation in recovery loans. In 2007, All China Women’s Federation and Agricultural Bank of China jointly issued “Advice on Advancement of Micro Credit for Rural Women” (Fu Zi No. [2007] 45) to develop micro credit business for rural women. Agricultural Bank of China has always cooperated with National Bureau of Statistics, and provide data and information about poverty alleviation in credit and financial poverty alleviation for “China Rural Poverty Monitoring Report” written by Rural Social & Economic Investigation Division of National Bureau of Statistics. In 2009, Agricultural Bank of China drafted “Poverty Alleviation Milestones in 60 Years of Agricultural Bank of China” for National Bureau of Statistics.

　　In each year, according to requirements of China Society for Promotion of the Guangcai Program, Agricultural Bank of China recommends poverty alleviation loan projects of the Guangcai Program to related branches, and issues soft loans to support some projects of some good economic benefits and obvious social benefits. Phase 3 Project of Jiangxi Ji’an Trade Plaza is a stressed project of the Guangcai Program. During the expansion of Phase 3 Project, the company’s construction funds were seriously insufficient. After getting the information, Jiangxi Branch of Agricultural Bank of China provided soft loans of 50 million Yuan to solve the enterprise’s problem, so that the project was finished and put into operation on time; at the end of 2007, the enterprises repaid all loans in time, the project solved the employment of nearly 10000 people, provided a platform for the nationwide circulation of agricultural products in Ji’an and unified economic benefits and social benefits.

　　【Poverty alleviation survey】  In June 2009, as decided at the first plenary meeting of LGOP, LGOP should initiate the joint survey to perfect national poverty alleviation and policy system. As one of the member units of LGOP, Agricultural Bank of China sent Vice General Manager Wang Liping and Vice General Manager Chu Jitian to of Rural Industrial Finance Department to participate in the survey. The survey team carried out surveys in 9 counties of Jiangsu, Anhui, Yunnan and Qinghai. Through survey, the team learned the poverty alleviation & development results and the urgent financial needs in impoverished areas, finished “Report on Survey to Perfect National Poverty Alleviation Strategy and Policy System” (brief as “Report” hereinafter) based on summarizing the credit poverty alleviation results, difficulties and problems of Agricultural Bank of China, and submitted the “Report” to the leaders of the bank.

　　The leaders of Agricultural Bank of China paid much attention to the survey. Zhang Yun, the vice party committee secretary, vice chairman and president of Agricultural Bank of China, gave an important instruction on the “Report”: “Responsibilities on shoulders, work actively; control risks first, commercial operation”. To implement the leader’s instruction and the decisions to promote services for “issues concerning agriculture, the countryside and farmers” made at the reform & development conference of Agricultural Bank of China, in November, related departments went to Sichuan, Yunnan and Qinghai, etc, for large-scale business survey, to learn the credit poverty alleviation progress after poverty alleviation soft loan management system was implemented, listen to voices of the basic level and learn the needs of the basic level, and put forward working thoughts and measures for the follow-up poverty alleviation in credit of Agricultural Bank of China.

　　(Agricultural Bank of China)