China to enhance financial support for agricultural sector

China's top banking regulator said on Thursday that the country will provide more financial support for agriculture.

Financial institutions will be encouraged to lend more to the agriculture, forestry, husbandry and fishery industries, prioritizing the country's central and western areas, as well as major grain-producing regions, the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) said in a report presented to the country's top legislative body.

It also vowed to increase credit for agricultural infrastructure construction, agricultural technology research and development, as well as the development of new types of agricultural business entities.

Outstanding loans for agriculture-related sectors totaled 17.6 trillion yuan (2.84 trillion U.S. dollars) at the end of 2012, representing an average annual increase of 23.6 percent from 2008. The growth was 4 percentage points higher than the average growth of other loans, according to CBRC statistics.

According to the report, the country will beef up efforts to promote the clarification, registration and transfer of rural land management rights while carrying out pilot programs for rural people who wish to mortgage their lands.

Rural land in China is either state-owned or collectively owned.