CDB Grants 1.23 Trillion RMB in Poverty Relief Loans Since the Launch of the 13th Five-Year Plan to Support the Battle Against Poverty

At the 237th regular press conference for the banking and insurance industry convened in Beijing on October 24, 2019, Meng Yaping, CDB’s Chief Risk Officer and Vice President of Housing Finance and Poverty Relief Program Finance, introduced how significantly CDB had supported China’s poverty alleviation initiative through financing programs, in his report with the theme of “Winning the Battle Against Poverty Through Development Finance.” The press conference was also attended by two other CDB officers: Tian Wendong, Deputy Director General of the Business Development Department, and Tian Jinyan, Deputy Director General of the Planning and Administration Department of Poverty Relief Program Finance.

It is reported that since the convening of the 18th CPC National Congress, CDB has made remarkable achievements in poverty relief by studying and implementing General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important thoughts on poverty relief, firmly executing related decisions and deployments of the CPC Central Committee, and strengthening efforts in all aspects of poverty relief. As of the end of September 2019, CDB had granted a total of 1.23 trillion RMB in poverty relief loans since the launch of the 13th Five-Year Plan, providing strong support for priority work such as poor family relocation, rural infrastructure construction, industry development, and educational assistance. These efforts have received positive recognition in poverty-stricken regions and from people living in poverty.

In practice, CDB has adhered to the strategy of “optimizing mechanisms, leveraging finance, and pooling talent”, while following the approaches of supporting “poor family relocation at the provincial level, infrastructure construction at the county level, industry development at the village (household) level, and educational assistance at the household (individual) level,” thus laying a solid foundation for winning the battle against poverty. To support poor family relocation, CDB has granted a total of 112.8 billion RMB loans to relocate some 3.12 million registered poor people. To promote infrastructure construction, CDB has granted a total of 354.2 billion RMB in rural infrastructure loans in support of the construction of 310,000 kilometers of village roads, 200,000 safe drinking water facilities and 6,508 safe schools, and the revamp of 570,000 dilapidated houses in rural areas, benefiting 28.03 million registered poor people; it has also granted a total of 839.8 billion RMB loans to support the construction of transportation, water resources, electricity, and other infrastructure in poverty-stricken regions. To alleviate poverty through industry development, CDB has granted a total of 182 billion RMB industry development loans, benefiting 390,000 people living in poverty. Seeing sub-loans as a powerful tool to support micro and small-sized enterprises and to reduce poverty through industry development, CDB granted a total of 49.3 billion RMB sub-loans from January to September 2019. As for educational assistance, upholding the principle of “providing loans to all qualified students,” CDB has granted a total of 164.7 billion RMB education loans to 11.88 million poor students from 2,309 districts and counties in 26 provinces. It has organized 24 job fairs in 18 provinces and municipalities exclusively for poor students to help them find suitable jobs, attracting the participation of more than 160,000 students.

CDB’s efforts to reduce poverty through finance focused on poverty relief in the poorest regions and in targeted regions and through collaboration between eastern and western regions. On one hand, CDB has increased its support for overcoming poverty in the poorest regions and granted a total of 561.8 billion RMB poverty relief loans to the poorest regions including the “Three Regions and Three Prefectures.” On the other hand, CDB has organized 12 matchmaking events to strengthen collaboration between banks, the government and enterprises, and has granted a total of 49.29 billion RMB to 80 projects for poverty relief collaboration between eastern and western regions, covering 16 western provinces and autonomous regions including Guizhou, Yunnan and Shaanxi. Meanwhile, prioritizing poverty alleviation in targeted regions, CDB has been innovating and enhancing its support for four counties, namely, Wuchuan, Zheng’an and Daozhen in Guizhou Province, and Gulin in Sichuan Province, and has granted a total of 10.3 billion RMB in poverty relief loans and channeled a total donation of 78.7 million RMB to the four counties, lifting 277 poverty-stricken villages and 371,000 poor people out of poverty.

Looking ahead, in order to contribute more to winning the battle against poverty, CDB will continue unswervingly to execute related decisions and deployments of the CPC Central Committee, and further enhance its support for poverty relief by “optimizing mechanisms, leveraging finance, and pooling talent,” with a focus on “Two No Worries and Three Guarantees,” poverty relief in the poorest regions and through industry development, and other priority areas.