The modernization of agriculture and rural areas is crucial to the overall progress and quality of China's modernization. The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee proposed to accelerate the modernization of agriculture and rural areas and to steadily promote the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas.
Bank of Communications has deeply understood and responded swiftly to the spirit of the plenary session, consciously integrating its own development into the overall national development strategy. Focusing on the pain points and bottlenecks in the "agriculture, rural areas, and farmers" sector, it has used precise and pragmatic financial innovation as a starting point to inject financial vitality into key agricultural areas such as rural industries and food security, refining the grand blueprint drawn up by the plenary session into a vivid practice of financial services supporting the real economy and assisting in the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas.
From the fields to the clouds, cultivating the fertile land of the countryside
Rural development is both a historical proposition and a contemporary challenge. Bank of Communications has always regarded serving agriculture, rural areas, and farmers as its bounden duty, ensuring a continuous flow of funds, services, and innovation to agriculture and rural areas.
Starting with top-level design, we have solidified the institutional framework for serving rural revitalization. A dedicated leading group for rural revitalization has been established, creating a robust management system from strategic decision-making to grassroots execution, ensuring the solid progress of all tasks. Regarding credit support, we have implemented a "four-specialized mechanism": formulating specific policy guidelines, including investment direction guidelines and specialized approval policies for key areas of rural revitalization such as high-standard farmland and cold chain logistics; establishing dedicated approval channels, creating a green channel for key agricultural loan projects to accelerate approval efficiency; building the "Bank of Communications Rural Benefit Pass" brand system, innovatively developing the "Rural Benefit e-Loan" standard product and customized characteristic products for agricultural scenarios at branch levels; and providing dedicated resource guarantees, including supporting special subsidies, capital reductions, and other policies, establishing a due diligence exemption and non-performing loan tolerance mechanism for agricultural loans, providing solid financial support for rural revitalization.
In terms of service models, Bank of Communications focuses on key aspects of agricultural industry development and provides targeted support. It concentrates on major production areas and new agricultural business entities, innovatively launching specialized products such as "Planting e-Loan" and "Agricultural Trade e-Loan" to support the development of agricultural product industries and enhance supply security. Around county-level industries that benefit farmers, it constructs an "industry + finance" model, strengthening the deep integration of finance and the industrial chain. Branches actively collaborate with local governments and guarantee institutions to deepen "bank-government-guarantee" cooperation, jointly developing regional credit products, building a risk-sharing system, and effectively improving financing accessibility.
Bank of Communications prioritizes technological empowerment and strives to optimize the rural financial ecosystem. It utilizes big data risk control models to integrate multi-source information, achieving automated approval for agricultural loans and significantly reducing approval time. The bank promotes a "proactive credit granting" service model, leveraging mobile banking and mobile service platforms to continuously extend service reach and bridge the "last mile" of rural financial services.
Bank of Communications uses technology to understand the cattle economy and has innovatively launched a beef cattle loan, turning cattle into a form of credit for farmers.
Strengthening the financial shield for food security
Food security is a matter of paramount importance to the nation, and grain reserves are the stabilizer and ballast stone for economic and social development. Since the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan, Bank of Communications has deeply grasped the requirements of my country to enhance the supply guarantee capacity of grain and other important agricultural products, and has provided all-round assistance to consolidate the foundation of food security and help to firmly hold the "Chinese rice bowl".
The land of Yan and Zhao is fertile and stretches for thousands of miles. Hebei Province, as an important grain-producing province in my country, has a stable grain output of over 70 billion jin (35 million tons) every year, playing a vital role in ensuring national food security.
The Hebei Branch of Bank of Communications regards safeguarding food security through financial means as an important political task, and has explored distinctive measures to ensure the security of the food industry chain, tailored to local conditions. Focusing on leading agricultural enterprises, it has innovatively constructed a financial ecosystem for food security covering the entire industry chain, from seed research and development, large-scale planting, agricultural input supply, warehousing and logistics, to market circulation, achieving certain results.
"Our bank has formed five major grain industry chains around local leading agricultural enterprises, covering the entire cycle of grain production, cultivation, fertilization, storage, and sales, connecting upstream and downstream, and building an integrated enterprise financial service chain for production, procurement, and sales," said a relevant person in charge of the Hebei Branch of Bank of Communications.
Taking the crucial breeding stage as an example, with the full support of the Hebei Branch of Bank of Communications, the funding needs of enterprises developing water-saving and high-yield wheat varieties such as "Malan No. 1" and "Hengmai 30," as well as strong gluten wheat varieties such as "Jimai U68" and "Gaoyou 5766," have been properly addressed during the seed research and development process. Through financial products such as working capital loans and quick loans for distributors, this bank has played a key role in safeguarding the research and development of the "chip" of grain production.
Revitalizing the unique industries
Rural revitalization hinges on industry. Bank of Communications prioritizes financial support for the development of distinctive rural industries as a key aspect of serving agriculture, rural areas, and farmers, and promoting inclusive finance. Through model innovation, product adaptation, and technological empowerment, Bank of Communications precisely connects with local resource endowments, injecting strong financial momentum into building a distinctive industrial pattern of "one industry per county" and "one product per township," revitalizing rural distinctive industries, and contributing to the creation of a magnificent new landscape for rural revitalization.
Sichuan Dekang Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Food Group Co., Ltd. is located in Sichuan Province, which has a long history and large scale of animal husbandry. It is a modern agricultural and animal husbandry investment and management enterprise specializing in livestock and poultry breeding, raising, sales and slaughtering and processing. It is also one of the largest breeding enterprises in Southwest China.
Currently, Dekang Agriculture and Animal Husbandry adopts industrialization as its basic strategy, with its business layout encompassing three sectors: pigs, poultry, and auxiliary products. Taking its core sector of pig farming as an example, Dekang Agriculture and Animal Husbandry employs two farming models: "company + family farm" and "company self-operation." It owns 138 pig farms nationwide, with cooperative farmers spread across multiple provinces and cities, covering a wide geographical area.
However, the multi-location development model of these enterprises presents some inconveniences in accessing financial resources. Due to their geographically dispersed and scattered nature, it is difficult to accurately grasp and verify the credit history, operating conditions, and true asset situation of these farmers, causing them to repeatedly encounter obstacles when applying for loans.
To address this, the Sichuan Branch of Bank of Communications, focusing on core enterprises and leveraging big data, has customized the "Agricultural and Livestock Breeding Loan" product for new agricultural business entities such as pig farmers. Utilizing a "scenario + data" approach, it breaks down spatial barriers and successfully digitizes offline business, achieving a fully online process combining online application, online loan approval, and short-term processing. From application to disbursement, the process can be completed in as little as one day, effectively solving the financing difficulties of individual cooperative farmers. It is reported that since its launch in April 2025, the "Agricultural and Livestock Breeding Loan" has disbursed over 200 loans, with an outstanding balance of nearly 400 million yuan.
Standing at the historical juncture of the conclusion of the 14th Five-Year Plan and the planning of the 15th Five-Year Plan, Bank of Communications will continue to implement the national strategic development plan, transform the spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee into a powerful driving force for promoting the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas, and write a new chapter in the financial support for China's modernization in the vast rural areas.
(Data source: Bank of Communications)
