China to Increase Financial Support for Rural Areas

China says it'll continue to increase financial support for rural areas this year.

Zang Jingfan is Director of the Department of Cooperation in Financial Supervision from the China Banking Regulatory Commission.

He told CRI that China has completed the restructuring of credit agencies in the countryside in almost 2,000 towns.

The watchdog has approved the opening of 107 financial services agencies in rural areas, and would continue to offer tax breaks and subsidies to banks for the loans they extend in those regions.

"We encourage state-owned banks to commercialize, but they have to fulfill their social responsibility at the same time. We offer greater incentives for agencies which guarantee to offer services in the countryside and encourage more financial institutions to branch out into rural regions. We plan to upgrade the financial services in China's rural areas within three years."

Zang Jingfan says the Commision will also actively cooperate with other government departments, to provide more support for rural areas in such fields as fiscal, tax, and land policies.