Residents prepare for a live streaming program to sell local products in Dacun Village of Luzhai County, Liuzhou City, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, June 14, 2023. (Xinhua/Huang Xiaobang)
More than half of Agricultural Bank of China's branches were located in county-level regions as of the end of 2023, amid the bank's broader efforts in improving financial services in rural areas.
According to the bank, a total of 12,700 branches had been established in county-level regions nationwide by the end of last year, accounting for 56.4 percent of the bank's total branches.
Aiming to boost rural vitalization, more than 70 percent of newly established branches were situated in financially under-served areas, such as county-level regions and the outskirts of urban areas, said the bank.
The bank has also enhanced its credit support to rural areas. By the end of the first quarter of 2024, outstanding loans in branches in China's county-level regions had exceeded 9 trillion yuan (about 1.27 trillion U.S. dollars), while the balance of loans to ensure the supply of grains and important agricultural products stood at 997.1 billion yuan.