Tianjin Binhai Rural Commercial Bank plans to set a town-and–village-level branch in Anci District, Langfang City, 60 km2 from Tianjin, according to an agreement signed with the local government.

The Binhai Rural Commercial Bank will invest 51 million yuan initially, accounting for 51 percent of the total shares while local enterprises will invest 49 million. It will be the bank’s first town-and–village-level branch outside Tianjin.

Founded in 2007 in the Binahai New Area by reconstructing several local small financial institutions, the bank is Binhai’s first independently-owned commercial bank. It mainly serves farm households, self-employed industrial and commercial households and small and medium enterprises in rural areas.

The bank is trying to make loans more accessible in northern China’s vast rural areas. According to Zheng Hui, president of the Agricultural Development Bank of China, there is a large demand in rural areas for loans. “There is a capital shortage in rural areas and it’s still difficult for famers to get loans,” he said.

By Guo Changdong