China's policy bank lends billions more to agriculture

BEIJING - The Agricultural Development Bank of China, the country's rural policy bank, has issued 2.14 trillion yuan (about $301.5 billion) of loans in the first three quarters of this year, up 373.9 billion yuan over the same period last year.

The loans were issued to support agricultural production, ensure the well-being of the farmers, and improve the rural areas to help underpin the country's economic fundamentals, said the bank.

To ensure grain security, the bank has issued loans worth 372 billion yuan to help purchase summer and autumn grain over the past year, up 96 billion yuan year on year.

The bank has also lent 25.6 billion yuan to nurture the seed industry and 234.4 billion yuan to upgrade farmlands so far this year.

Outstanding loans rose by 989.1 billion yuan by the end of September from the beginning of this year, said the bank.