1st LD-Writethru: China gives preference to poor areas on financial support

BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- China has made financial support a priority in the very poorest regions, a central bank statement said Monday.

Abject poverty areas should have priority in new financial capital and services, according to a guideline by the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the banking, securities and insurance regulatory commissions.

Annual credit growth in those areas should be higher than the provincial average by 2020, according to the PBOC statement.

Financial institutions should increase credit support for poverty relief through re-lending, in which the central bank extends loans to commercial banks on the condition that they in turn lend to businesses in required sectors.

Institutions needed to broaden channels of direct finance, including quick IPO approvals, in areas of abject poverty.

By the end of 2020, withdrawal services and financial training should be available in all such villages.

To forestall financial risks, financial institutions do all they can to avoid fraud.

Non-performing loan ratios in abject poverty areas are allowed to be 2 percentage points higher than the financial institution's annual average target.

China has set 2020 as the target year to finish building a moderately prosperous society and completely eradicate poverty. To realize the goal, risk prevention, poverty alleviation and pollution control have all been high on the government's agenda.

China has lifted more than 60 million people out of poverty in the past five years, with the poverty rate dropping from 10.2 percent to less than 4 percent. As of the end of 2016, there were 43.35 million Chinese living below the national poverty line. Enditem