More efforts needed to finance agriculture
( 2003-11-11 01:06) (Xinhua)
Chinese agriculture is
starved of investment for development, but banks are reluctant to provide loans,
hampering the rural economy, said Chen Xiwen, deputy director of the office of
Central Financial Work Leading Group, on Monday.
Many facts and figures indicated the necessity to adjust the structure of the
rural economy, including investment strategies and government policies, Chen
told the Agricultural International Investment and Financing Forum held in
Beijing by the Ministry of Agriculture.
Farming and township enterprises accounted for roughly 45 percent of the
gross domestic product (GDP), but only 10 percent of the loans from the banking
sector last year.
The problem came from regulations, including one which prohibited farmers
from mortgaging their farms or houses, making it almost impossible to get loans
from banks.
A lack of capital support greatly restricted national development and widened
the gap between rural and urban areas, Chen said. Last year, the urban-rural
average annual income ratio was about 3.11"The rapid growth of the national
economy in the past decade was amazing, but the growth mainly came from capital
investment and exports, said Chen, also a leading economist, adding the
government should pay more attention to domestic consumption, which was sluggish
as farmers, accounting for around 80 percent of the 1.3 billion population, were
not wealthy enough to boost consumption. Enditem nnnn
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