Ministry of Agriculture: Develop New Rural Financial Organizations, Advance Financial Support for Agriculture
On May 4, it was learned from the Ministry of Agriculture that the Department of Industrial Policy and Regulation of the Ministry of Agriculture published on April 30 the 2015 policies and measures of the state for deepening rural reform, developing modern agriculture, and promoting increases in farmers' incomes. Among them were policies for developing new types of agricultural financial organizations, mainly the policy of financial support for large-scale agricultural production and intensive management, the policy of developing new types of rural cooperative financial organizations, and the policy of support for agricultural insurance.
The policy of financial support for large-scale agricultural production and intensive management includes increasing credit input for large-scale agricultural production and intensive management. Various types of large-scale agricultural operating entities will be included in the scope of credit assessment, credit files will be established, credit limits will be raised, and leading enterprises in agricultural industrialization will be supported in forming large agricultural enterprise groups in accordance with the law through mergers, restructuring, acquisitions, and holding controlling shares. Syndicated loan methods will be reasonably used to meet the large-sum funding needs of large-scale agricultural operating entities.
⟦NL> Around local characteristic agriculture, with core enterprises at the center, upstream and downstream enterprises, farmer cooperatives, and farming households will be bundled together to develop and promote multiple supply chain financing products such as order financing, movable property pledge, accounts receivable factoring, and producer-merchant-bank arrangements. Ways such as manufacturer or supplier guarantees or repurchases will be explored to advance mortgage loan business for agricultural machinery and equipment. The pilot program for mortgage loans on rural land contractual management rights will be steadily promoted, new products for land management right mortgage financing will be explored, and large-scale agricultural operating entities will be supported in developing appropriately scaled operations through land circulation. Support will be strengthened for key areas of large-scale agricultural production and intensive management.
In terms of industrial projects, priority support will be given to modern agricultural projects such as agricultural science and technology, modern seed industry, agricultural machinery and equipment manufacturing, protected agriculture, agricultural industrialization, and intensive and deep processing of agricultural products. In terms of agricultural infrastructure, priority support will be given to farmland consolidation, farmland water conservancy, commodity grain and cotton production bases, and rural livelihood projects. In the field of agricultural product circulation, priority support will be given to the construction of wholesale markets, retail markets, and warehousing and logistics facilities.
In addition, the policy of developing new types of rural cooperative financial organizations includes selecting some areas to carry out pilot credit cooperation by farmer cooperatives, enriching the types of financial institutions in rural areas. The state will advance the development of community-based rural mutual fund organizations, and these organizations must adhere to the principles of membership and closure, and insist on not accepting deposits or issuing loans externally and not paying fixed returns. The state will also further improve the management system for new types of rural cooperative financial organizations, clarify the regulatory responsibilities of local governments, encourage localities to establish risk compensation funds, and effectively prevent financial risks.
The policy of support for agricultural insurance includes the following: the varieties for which the central government finance provides agricultural insurance premium subsidies include corn, rice, wheat, cotton, potatoes, oil crops, sugar crops, sows, dairy cows, fattening pigs, natural rubber, forests, highland barley, Tibetan sheep, and yaks, totaling 15. For crop insurance, the central government finance subsidizes 40% for the central and western regions, 35% for the eastern region, and 65% for the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, directly affiliated central reclamation areas, Sinograin Northern Company, and China Agricultural Development Group Corporation (hereinafter referred to as central units), with provincial-level finance subsidizing at least 25%. For insurance on sows, dairy cows, and fattening pigs, the central government finance subsidizes 50% for the central and western regions, 40% for the eastern region, and 80% for central units, with local finance subsidizing at least 30%. For public welfare forest insurance, the central government finance subsidizes 50%, and 90% for the Greater Khingan Mountains Forestry Group Corporation, with local finance subsidizing at least 40%; for commercial forest insurance, the central government finance subsidizes 30%, and 55% for the Greater Khingan Mountains Forestry Group Corporation, with local finance subsidizing at least 25%. The central government finance agricultural insurance premium subsidy policy covers the whole country, and localities may independently carry out related insurance types. In 2015, the state will further increase support for agricultural insurance, raise the proportion of premium subsidies provided by central and provincial-level finance for insurance on major grain crops, gradually reduce or cancel county-level premium subsidies in major grain-producing counties, and continuously improve the coverage and risk protection level of insurance for the three major grain varieties of rice, wheat, and corn; encourage insurance institutions to carry out insurance for characteristic and advantageous agricultural products, with localities that have the conditions providing premium subsidies, and the central government finance supporting them through methods such as rewards in place of subsidies; expand the scope and coverage areas of livestock product and forest insurance; and encourage the development of various forms of mutual and cooperative insurance.