The People's Bank of China recently issued the Report on the Implementation of China's Monetary Policy in the Second Quarter of 2024, which proposes to continue to strengthen financial support for the overall revitalization of rural areas. Finance is an important driving force for rural revitalization. This year, the No. 1 central document of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) regards the promotion of comprehensive rural revitalization as the general focus of the work of "agriculture, rural areas and farmers" in the new era and new journey, and has mapped out a "road map" for agricultural finance to vigorously promote comprehensive rural revitalization. Experts say that since the beginning of this year, the banking industry has increased its investment in agricultural credit, focused on the financing difficulties in key areas of agriculture, rural areas, and farmers, strengthened visits and assistance, improved basic financial services, and enhanced the momentum of financial support for rural revitalization. Increasing credit supply and focusing on comprehensive rural revitalization, we need to optimize resource allocation, effectively increase financial support in the areas of agriculture, rural areas, and farmers, and continue to comprehensively promote rural revitalization. Since the beginning of this year, the investment in agricultural credit by the banking industry has continued to grow, and the financial scale and coverage have been continuously extended. Data shows that as of the end of May, the balance of agricultural loans was 60 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.1%. In recent years, the People's Bank of China has played a role in optimizing the structure of its monetary policy, actively utilizing support for agriculture and small businesses through refinancing and rediscounting, and guiding financial institutions to expand their credit investment in the agricultural sector. According to data, as of the end of June, the balance of agricultural re loans nationwide was 677.1 billion yuan, the balance of small and medium-sized re loans was 1.7 trillion yuan, the balance of poverty alleviation re loans was 108.5 billion yuan, and the rediscount balance was 600 billion yuan. Since the beginning of this year, agricultural loans have not only increased in total volume, but also shown a trend of optimization in structure. Key areas such as rural (county and below) loans, farmer loans, and agricultural loans have all achieved rapid growth According to Ye Yindan, a researcher at the Bank of China Research Institute, this indicates that financial institutions continue to actively respond to national policies and support agricultural and rural development by increasing credit allocation. In addition, regulatory authorities also urge financial institutions to improve their institutional mechanisms and enhance the quality and efficiency of rural revitalization services. In order to promote the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas and achieve the goal of building a strong agricultural country, the State Administration of Financial Supervision and Administration, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and other departments issued a notice this year on carrying out a special action to strengthen financial support for the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas by learning and applying the experience of the "Ten Million Project". Special actions will be carried out from the aspects of financial security and financial services for rural industries, encouraging banking institutions to continue to promote the tilt of financial resources towards counties. The reporter learned that financial regulatory departments in many places actively guide financial activities to drip water into rural revitalization. In Hubei Province, financial regulatory authorities have guided banking institutions to strengthen agricultural financial services. As of the end of June, the balance of inclusive agricultural loans from banking institutions in the province was 481.73 billion yuan, an increase of 16.4% from the beginning of the year. In Heilongjiang Province, financial regulatory authorities guide banking institutions within their jurisdiction to seize the county-level market, support the development of science and technology agriculture, green agriculture, and quality agriculture in Heilongjiang Province, and continuously promote the upgrading of rural industries. Ye Yindan stated that financial regulatory authorities should continue to optimize credit policies and clearly allocate credit resources to key areas such as agriculture and rural areas, which will help improve the efficiency of fund utilization and ensure that financial resources can directly serve the core needs of rural revitalization. Strengthening digital empowerment of digital finance is one of the five major articles proposed at the Central Financial Work Conference. Against the backdrop of accelerating rural revitalization, banks are using digital technology to promote their own business digital transformation and expand and extend their service scope, accelerating the realization of financial support for rural revitalization. At present, digital finance is showing a new trend in assisting rural revitalization. The relevant person in charge of the Rural Revitalization Finance Department of China Construction Bank stated that the development of the digital economy and the widespread application of financial technology have presented new trends in financial services for rural revitalization. One is integration. Financial services for rural revitalization require service outreach and product innovation to understand the needs and difficulties of the people. The second is integration. Financial services for rural revitalization require the use of finance to promote the integration and aggregation of various production factors, and to activate the factor market in rural areas. Experts suggest that commercial banks should grasp the new trend of digital finance, deeply tap into the potential of data, and expand the radius of agricultural services. At present, banks are leveraging new models of digital finance to enhance the quality and efficiency of financial services for agriculture, rural areas, and farmers through innovative financial products and data assets. Since the implementation of the "Ten Million Project" in Zhejiang, Xiaochou Village, Tongyu Street, Luqiao District, Taizhou City has transformed the loquat production method, extended the industrial chain, and developed small loquat into a large industry. In this process, banks innovate financial products such as farmer e-loans and farmer friendly loans, and promote online services throughout the entire agricultural chain. In Quannan County, Jiangxi Province, the traditional Chinese medicine industry has been identified as the direction of county-level economic development. Due to the lack of suitable collateral for small and micro enterprises in this industry chain, banks rely on digital methods to compare the production transaction data, assets and liabilities of small and micro enterprises, quickly determine loan products and amounts in big data models, and provide financial support for the cultivation of traditional Chinese medicine seedlings in small and micro enterprises. Wang Wenyu, a researcher of China Inclusive Finance Research Institute of Renmin University of China, said that compared with traditional financial products, digital financial products have shorter loan review cycle and better service experience. After the digital transformation of financial institutions, the comprehensive evaluation of rural entities through big data models can achieve "instant lending". The development of digital finance cannot be separated from the data generated by rural economic activities. Financial institutions can also better understand customer needs and provide more personalized services through digital technology than in the past. In response to the different financing needs of rural entities in terms of terms of maturity and repayment methods, digital financial services can provide personalized financing methods such as on-demand borrowing and repayment, interest first and then principal, or installment payments, which better match their "short, frequent, and scattered" funding needs. Currently, various financial institutions are innovatively combining digital technology to improve the quality and efficiency of financial services. Ye Yindan stated that digital finance can provide targeted financial services from raw material procurement and planting management in agricultural production to sales and logistics of agricultural products. However, in the process of digital transformation of banks, digital risk management still faces challenges. Ye Yindan stated that financial institutions should utilize data analysis technology for real-time risk monitoring, strengthen compliance reviews, and ensure that product design and operational processes comply with regulatory requirements. Regulatory agencies need to establish clear digital finance regulations to ensure that all financial activities are conducted within the legal framework, and to promptly detect and respond to potential fraud and abnormal trading behavior. To revitalize rural areas and focus on service difficulties, the primary issue is to solve the problem of 'where does the money come from'. Wang Wenyu stated that compared to urban residents and small and micro enterprises, the financial needs of rural entities are smaller in scale, scattered and remote, and most of them are still credit white households, with information asymmetry problems. They face greater risks in their own development and weaker financial capabilities, especially for small and micro enterprises engaged in agriculture, which also face a lack of production and operation data, a lack of collateral, and special risks in agricultural production. The weakness of rural entities makes it difficult for financial institutions to provide services to them, including high overall costs, significant challenges in risk management, and difficulties in expanding business. The weak construction of rural financial infrastructure has resulted in difficulties in solving bottlenecks and limited implementation opportunities for financial institutions to conduct business in rural areas. Even if financial institutions are enthusiastic about entering rural areas and wanting to make a big impact, the problem of financial infrastructure will seriously limit the ability of financial institutions. Therefore, we should strengthen the foundation of rural financial services from multiple aspects, such as bank institutions carrying out whole village credit, cross departmental cooperation, etc., to alleviate the financing difficulties of agricultural entities. Since the beginning of this year, relevant agricultural policies have mentioned the need to fill the gaps in financial services and meet the diversified financial needs of agricultural production entities and agricultural material enterprises. In Yulin City, Guangxi, local banking institutions and tax departments take the use of information related to agricultural business entities as a breakthrough point to accurately assist small and micro enterprises in clearing financing bottlenecks. Our company has obtained loan support from the Jiangnan Branch of Bank of China in Yulin City, relying on its consecutive years of A-level tax credit, which provides financial support for autumn agricultural production, "said Zhang Chengping, the person in charge of Guangxi Yulin Fenlin Compound Fertilizer Co., Ltd. In addition, China Construction Bank Ningxia Branch is fully committed to promoting the effective connection between regional consolidation and expansion of poverty alleviation achievements and rural revitalization, and tailoring financial service plans for Tan sheep breeders. Wang Wenyu stated that multi-dimensional stimulation of rural revitalization vitality, under the premise of controllable risks, financial institutions should provide a relaxed exploration environment for product innovation and model innovation of key groups. Relevant departments should encourage financial institutions to continue exploring mortgage and pledge methods for various rural assets, complement each other's advantages through inter institutional cooperation, diversify risks, and break through existing business bottlenecks. In the context of the rural revitalization strategy, the development of rural finance at the local level is not independent. Wang Wenyu stated that the development of rural finance requires the creation of a comprehensive financial ecosystem for rural revitalization. In the future, we should optimize and tilt credit resources, strengthen insurance, empower the capital market, narrow the gap between financial demand and supply, and truly enable finance to support rural development. (New Society)